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Project title

Irish Peatland Resilience to changing climate and increased frequency and severity of drought

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

National Parks and Wildlife Sevice

Lead Organisation

University of Birmingham

Lead Applicant

Nicholas Kettridge

Project Abstract

IPR will implement a mechanistic ecohydrological modelling approach to quantify temperate peatland resilience (the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance) and vulnerability to state shifts driven by climate change and associated extreme events at a national scale across Ireland. This will inform and direct climate mitigation strategies to optimise the management of Irish peatlands to maximise carbon sequestration and storage, directly addressing Action 14 of the National Peatland Strategy and Action 131, 133 and 134 of the Climate Action Plan. Through an international multi-disciplinary collaboration between peatland scientists, hydrological modellers and GIS/remote sensing experts, IPR will utilize the extensive datasets from past and ongoing EPA funded projects to down scale, refine and implement a pan-European peatland-forest bi-stability model. Simulations will characterise the ecohydrological and biogeochemical response of the Irish peatland landscape to changing climates and extreme events. Simulations will identify Irish peatlands (degraded and intact) most at risk from climate change, define the extent to which effective peatland management and restoration must account for climate change impacts and define the optimal rehabilitation and restoration approach at a national scale to maximise peatland carbon storage for any defined investment.

Grant Approved

�298,591.06

Research Hub

Climate Change

Research Theme

Ireland's Future Climate, its Impacts, and Adaptation Options

Start Date

01/03/2021

Initial Projected Completion Date

28/02/2023