Research undertaken by Moors for the Future Partnership alongside the University of Manchester is set to be presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly.

Image of Black Hill Cotton Grass

The prestigious event is taking place in Vienna, Austria from Sunday 23rd to Friday 28th April, bringing together geoscientists from all over the world covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary and space sciences.

The research, into trajectories of ecosystem service change in restored peatlands, will be showcased at the congress. It was undertaken by Dr Jonathan Walker, Dr Mike Pilkington and Tom Spencer from the Moors for the Future Science team, alongside Professor Martin Evans and Dr Emma Shuttleworth from the University of Manchester.

Dr Pilkington said: “The EGU General Assembly is a very significant event in the geosciences calendar and we are so pleased that our colleagues from the University of Manchester are set to showcase this important research to hundreds of scientists in our field from across the globe.

“Peatlands provide a wide range of ecosystem services, but across the world, degradation of these systems through a range of human impacts has had a negative effect on the provision of these services. A wide variety of peatland restoration approaches have been developed with the aim of mitigating these impacts. Understanding of trajectories of change in ecosystem structure and function is central to evaluating the efficiency of these restoration methods.

“Our research considered data on post-restoration trajectories of water table change, vegetation recovery, run-off production and water quality, based on extensive data from peatland restoration work across the South Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation. Data has been compiled from multiple restoration initiatives undertaken across the region, spanning up to 12 years post restoration.”

Read more from the abstract of the research paper.

The EGU aims to provide a forum where scientists, especially early career researchers, can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geoscience.