Title: MRV approaches
1- MRV approaches
- in the BMU Belarus peatland project
Hans Joosten Greifswald University, Germany
2Eastern Europe famous for its vast and largely
undisturbed peatlands...
Rospuda Valley, Poland
3Belarus has high proportion of peatlands...
fens (green), bogs (red), transitional peatlands
(purple) former extent 15 of the area
4Present area of natural peatlands 1.5 mio ha
5Present area of drained peatlands 1.5 mio ha
(agriculture 72, forestry 25, peat extraction
3)
6Drained peatlands are huge emittors of CO2 N2O
7CO2 emission
Central Europe is peatland emission hot spot
8Does rewetting reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
9How much less emissions after rewetting?
10BMU funded rewetting project (2008-2011)
- builds on GEF funded rewetting project (42,000
ha) - strong support of Belarusian government
- carbon credits
- reduction of fires (radioactivity!)
11BMU funded rewetting project (2008-2011)
- Deliverables
- methodology for GHG assessment
- standard for voluntary trade
- 15,000 ha rewetted and sustainably managed
- local capacity
12Measuring directly is complicated, time
consuming, expensive ( 10,000 /ha/yr) ? proxy
indicators
13Mean water level is best predictor of emissions
(meta-analysis of 25 site parameters in W-Europe)
14CO2 emissions clearly correlate with water
levels they become less with higher water levels
15CH4 emissions clearly correlate with water
levels they increase when higher than 20 cm -
surface
16N2O emissions clearly correlate with water
levels they do not occur when higher than 15 cm
- surface
17N2O erratic, but lower with higher water
levels Leave N2O emissions out ? conservative
estimate
18By rewetting, greenhouse gas emissions decrease,
but less between 20 cm and 0 cm
19Emissions strongly related to water level
Vegetation strongly related to water level ?
Use vegetation as indicator for emissions!
20In an environmental gradient some plant species
occur together others exclude each
other. Species groups (and their absence!)
indicate site conditions much sharper than
individual plant species vegetation forms.
21Vegetation types calibrated for GHG
emissions GESTs Greenhouse gas Emission Site
Types Some examples
Water level Vegetation CH4 CO2 GWP
22GESTs with indicator species groups
Each GEST with typical species
Each GEST with typical GHG emissions
23Benefits of vegetation as a GHG proxy
- reflects long-term water levels
- ? provides indication on GHG fluxes per yr
- is controlled by factors that control GHG
emissions (water, nutrients, acidity, land use) - is responsible for GHG emissions via its own
organic matter (root exudates!) - may provide bypasses for increased CH4 via
aerenchyma (shunt species) - allows rapid and fine-scaled mapping
- ? Vegetation is a more comprehensive proxy
than water level!
24Disadvantages of vegetation as a proxy
- slow reaction on environmental changes
- 3 years before change in water level is
reflected in vegetation (negative effect faster) - needs to be calibrated for different climatic and
phytogeographical conditions
25Vegetation forms developed for NE Germany
? test of correlations in Belarusian
peatlands
26BMU Belarus project
- Calibration of NE German model for Belarus
- relation vegetation ? water level (CIM position)
- relation water level ? GHG emissions (CIM
position) - Completion of model (gap filling)
- Consistency test with international literature
- Development of conservative approaches
- Selection of rewetting sites
- Mapping of vegetation before rewetting
(assessment of emission baseline ) - Monitor water level and vegetation development
(ex-post emission monitoring)
27Major gap abandoned peat extraction sites
28- Perspectives of GEST-approach
- Ex-ante baseline assessment with ex-post
evaluation - Fine-scaled mapping
- Remote sensing monitoring
- Continuous refinement with progressing GHG
research - Addition of new modules (forest, transient
dynamics) - Simple, cheap, reliable
29Developed with
- Jürgen Augustin (ZALF)
- John Couwenberg (DUENE)
- Dierk Michaelis (Uni Greifswald)
- Merten Minke (APB / CIM)
- Annett Thiele (APB/ CIM)
- And many more
30GESTs!
info joosten_at_uni-greifswald.de