Welcome to the Peak District National Park

Moorlands as Indicators of Climate Change Initiative Welcome to MICCI This is a project designed for schools to investigate the interrelationship between the moorland landscape and climate change Chris Robinson Learning and Discovery Officer PDNPA

High Open Countryside No normal farming Created by humans So What is ‘Moorland’?

Moorland Ecology Characteristics and Types HEIGHT: >250m above sea level SOIL: Peat up to 4m thick Vegetation Peat Gritstone bedrock WINDY & WET: >1000mm/year All types have impoverished flora Harsh physical conditions Poor soil structure and nutrient status 1. Heather moorland - most common, on gentler, relatively dry slopes 2. Grass moorland - coarse grasses such as mat grass, wet areas, peat <20cm allowing grass roots to penetrate 3. Cotton grass moorland - rare, wet areas, peat >70cm 4. Sphagnum bog - formerly 18 species, but pollution has reduced these to 3, of which only 1 is common. Very wet and acid. An absorbent, spongy mass. Note that 13% of world’s blanket bog is in UK

What is global warming?

“The warming of the climate is unequivocal” IPCC report 2007 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Climate Change – it’s definitely happening!

Where do moorlands fit into the climate change debate? 1. Peatlands are the single largest carbon reserve in the UK (3 billion tonnes of carbon) More carbon is stored in UK peat than in the forests of the UK and France combined. 2. A good peat bog actively “sequesters” carbon (locks it away). Is a “CARBON SINK” 3. A damaged peat bog actively loses carbon to the atmosphere.(through erosion and oxidation). Is a “CARBON SOURCE” 4. The warmer and drier the climate is the more erosion and fires there are. The more carbon turns into CO 2.

Peat Weathering of bedrock Rain Photosynthesis Decomposition Dissolved Inorganic Carbon DIC Particulate Organic Carbon POC Dissolved Organic Carbon DOC CO2 INPUTSCO2 OUTPUTS The Moorland Carbon Cycle Fluvial Flux (removed by water)

A healthy moor Carbon flux prediction models (Dark Peak area) Best case scenarioWorst case scenario = Carbon loss = Carbon sink

Source: Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project, NASA- GSFC, and ORBIMAGE, 18 April 2003 Fire on Bleaklow Satellite view of Northern Britain

Fire can turn a healthy moor into an unhealthy one! Aerial view of fire damage and subsequent erosion on Bleaklow

It’s not all bad though! The Moors for the Future partnership have managed to reseed this area of erosion on Sykes Moor and many others Large area of bare peat

GPS position - Garmin Altitude - Garmin Aspect - Compass Elevation Grid reference

Gradient – Clinometer + tape measure + 2 metre rules

Total length of soil spike Soil depth – soil spike Soil temperature - thermometer length of soil spike above ground

Holes to let water in Measure this! Dip well for gauging water table 1 metre 5 cm Metre rule Kitchen waste pipe Surface of Peat Holes to let water in Measure this!

Nitrate level – nitrate kit DOC – water bottle 1 23

Temperature – pH meter pH – pH meter Protective cover On/off switch

Soil pH – auger and pH kit

Vegetation record - quadrats

QuadratsHeatherBilberryCrowberry 1llllllllll 2 l 3l 4ll 5l 2 different plants, 2 tally marks 1 plant, 1 tally mark

How do we record and share the results?

Who else is involved? Carlton High Honley High Longley Park King Ecgberts St John Houghton Heanorgate Long Eaton West Hill Glossopdale Chapel High Painsley Catholic College

What sort of conservation work will our experiments inform? Youth Rangers using Geojute fabric to stabilise planting Discoveries you make about the state of the peat will help scientists from Moors for the Future decide on the most appropriate conservation methods for the moorland.