NSERC's Industrial Research Chair in Peatland management
The Industrial Research Chair in Peatland Management aims to improve our knowledge of peatland restoration methods, to explore the potential for berry production and tree plantation on mined peatlands, and to look into the cultivation of Sphagnum fibres. The chair, lead by Dr. Line Rochefort from Université Laval (Québec, Canada), complements the researches carried out by the Peatland Ecology Research Group (PERG). To date, PERG has developed innovative basic techniques for restoring mined peatlands and has elaborated on conservation strategies.
The restoration of peatland ecosystems is a lengthy process. Within the chair, the success of restoration will be evaluated by assessing the long-term evolution of plant communities and the return of other ecosystem functions (e.g. hydrology, carbone cycle, productivity, biogeochemistry, etc.). The Bois-des-Bel peatland, an 11 hectares (ha) site which was harvested, abandoned for 20 years, and finally restored in 1999-2000, is our outdoor laboratory. A new large scale experimental site will be established from 2008 as part of the renewal of the industrial research chair. This is the fen of Bic-Saint-Fabien, which is also located in the region of the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.
Monitoring of other large-scale restored sites and satellite imagery will also allow us to follow the restoration process. Additionally, new restoration techniques will be developed to deal with a variety of conditions encountered in peatland restoration. However, some sites have been too severely disturbed by peat mining to be restored to a peat accumulating ecosystem, the ultimate goal of peatland restoration. For such sites, the Chair will develop methods to reclaim abandoned peatlands into berry production or tree plantations. These two alternatives will improve the economic and aesthetic values of these areas. The third research avenue of the Chair will be the exploration of the production of Sphagnum fibres as a renewable resource to be used commercially in growing substrates.