Drained and forgotten peat extraction sites: economic and carbon impacts of peat and water loss in spontaneously forested Lithuanian peatlands

Manton, Michael; Grigaliūnas, Vaidotas; Jarašius, Leonas; Sendžikaitė, Jūratė; Tamulaitytė, Gabija; Grodzka-Łukaszewska, Maria

doi:10.22630/srees.10809

Figures & Tables

Distribution of abandoned peatlands in the territory of the country and location of the areas investigated during field research
Source: own work. — Distribution of abandoned peatlands in the territory of the country and location of the areas investigated during field research Source: own work.

Three samples of abandoned peatland quarries showing the range of ecological conditions found in Lithuania
Source: photos by J. Sendžikaitė. — Three samples of abandoned peatland quarries showing the range of ecological conditions found in Lithuania Source: photos by J. Sendžikaitė.

Results from principal component analysis based on variance-covariance matrix analysis of 5 variables representing 33 peatlands in Lithuania
Source: own work. — Results from principal component analysis based on variance-covariance matrix analysis of 5 variables representing 33 peatlands in Lithuania Source: own work.

Results of the cluster analysis identified four main peatland clusters; from left to right, these represent clearer ecological stratification of the peatland sites
Source: own work. — Results of the cluster analysis identified four main peatland clusters; from left to right, these represent clearer ecological stratification of the peatland sites Source: own work.

Summary result values from the principal component analysis loading values

Specification	PC1	PC2	PC3	PC4	PC5
C : N	0.617	0.023	−0.423	0.312	0.584
pH	−0.682	0.011	0.097	0.151	0.709
Peat depth	0.077	0.702	−0.050	−0.673	0.214
Water level	0.110	0.618	0.498	0.591	−0.097
Wood volume	0.368	−0.352	0.749	−0.280	0.317

Estimated peatland extraction losses in terms of volume and monetary value for peat, water and carbon

Peatland	Area [m²]	Average lowering [m]	Peat volume lost [m³]	Water volume lost [m³]	Carbon stock [t C]	CO₂ eq. [t CO₂]	Peat value [€]	Water value [€]	Carbon value [€]	Rewetting [€]	Balance [€]
Aukštoji plynė	1,897,398	0.99	1,884,403	1,507,522	94,220	345,477	21,859,073	814,062	19,775,104	455,376	814,532
Aukštumala	660,029	1.00	660,029	528,023	33,001	121,006	7,656,336	285,132	6,926,407	158,407	286,390
Bokštų – Klabų	479,576	0.50	239,788	191,830	11,989	43,962	2,781,541	103,588	2,516,358	115,098	46,496
Burbonys	2,249,084	2.68	6,020,396	4,816,317	301,020	1,103,749	69,836,588	2,600,811	63,178,605	539,780	3,517,392
Dabravolė	707,745	0.40	280,998	224,798	14,050	51,517	3,259,575	121,391	2,948,818	169,859	19,507
Dainaviškiai	1527519	0.03	4,8171	38,537	2,409	8,831	558,784	20,810	505,511	366,605	−334,142
Derkintai	753,770	3.35	2,527,243	2,021,794	126,362	463,332	29,316,019	1,091,769	26,521,129	180,905	1,522,216
Didžlaukis	628,759	0.66	412,802	330,242	20,640	75,681	4,788,508	178,331	4,331,988	150,902	127,287
Dūčiai	1,854,022	2.36	4,379,285	3,503,428	218,964	802,876	50,799,706	1,891,851	45,956,635	444,965	2,506,255
Ežerėlis	5,809,552	0.60	3,485,731	2,788,585	174,287	639,057	40,434,482	1,505,836	36,579,596	1,394,292	954,758
Garonys	803,448	2.68	2,1503,21	1,720,257	107,516	394,229	24,943,727	928,939	22,565,676	192,828	1,256,284
Geidukonys	262,586	0.83	217,177	173,741	10,859	39,816	2,519,249	93,820	2,279,073	63,021	83,336
Girdijauskai	837,204	2.95	2,468,046	1,974,437	123,402	452,479	28,629,331	1,066,196	25,899,908	200,929	1,462,298
Januškiai	603,841	3.51	2,120,003	1,696,002	106,000	388,671	24,592,035	915,841	22,247,514	144,922	1,283,758
Kašučiai	198,535	0.62	122,455	97,964	6,123	22,450	1,420,478	52,901	1,285,054	47,648	34,875
Kaušanka	878,596	2.24	1,971,236	1,576,989	98,562	361,397	22,866,339	851,574	20,686,340	210,863	1,117,562
Kazimierava	187,681	3.15	591,366	473,093	29,568	108,418	6,859,844	255,470	6,205,850	45,043	353,481
Laukagalis	1,441,621	0.87	1,246,935	997,548	62,347	228,607	14,464,446	538,676	13,085,455	345,989	494,326
Leoniškė	521,081	0.21	107,104	85,683	5,355	19,636	1,242,406	46,269	1,123,959	125,059	−52,882
Mažieji Mostaičiai	101,278	0.33	3,3261	26,609	1,663	6,098	385,828	14,369	349,044	24,307	−1,892
Čelkiai	649,624	2.78	1,805,635	1,444,508	90,282	331,036	20,945,370	780,035	18,948,510	155,910	1,060,916
Paąžuolynė	552,464	2.61	1,443,053	1,154,443	72,153	264,562	16,739,416	623,399	15,143,537	132,591	839,889
Paduobys	2,678,952	4.97	13,327,034	10,661,627	666,352	2,443,312	154,593,594	5,757,279	139,855,166	642,948	8,338,201
Plinkšė	697,250	0.50	349,546	279,637	17,477	64,084	4,054,733	151,004	3,668,168	167,340	68,221
Pūsčia	871,503	3.46	3014,593	2,411,674	150,730	552,680	34,969,276	1,302,304	31,635,424	209,161	1,822,387
Raistapelkė	442,392	2.54	1,121,856	897,485	56,093	205,675	13,013,528	484,642	11,772,863	106,174	649,850
Raudonbalė	356,677	0.29	104,145	83,316	5,207	19,093	1,208,077	44,990	1,092,903	85,602	−15,419
Rūdgiris	208,626	3.05	635,275	508,220	31,764	116,468	7,369,194	274,439	6,666,640	50,070	378,045
Sachara	925,314	0.87	801,704	641,363	40,085	146,980	9,299,763	346,336	8,413,155	222,075	318,196
Saliečiai	3,446,981	3.48	11,995,418	9,596,335	599,771	2,199,180	139,146,849	5,182,021	125,881,061	827,275	7,256,492
Sūsia	4,552,531	2.42	11,040,897	8,832,718	552,045	2,024,183	128,074,405	4,769,668	115,864,226	1,092,607	6,347,904
Užpelkiai	169,299	1.74	293,655	234,924	14,683	53,837	3,406,401	126,859	3,081,647	40,632	157,264
Vadakstis	580,904	1.00	580,346	464,277	29,017	106,398	6,732,015	250,710	6,090,208	139,417	251,681
Total	38,535,842	1.81	77,479,906	61,983,925	3,873,995	14,204,779	898,766,915	33,471,320	813,081,530	9,248,602	42,965,463

Summary result values from the principal component analysis

PC	Eigenvalue	Variance [%]
1	1.899	37.982
2	1.492	29.852
3	0.883	17.675
4	0.533	10.663
5	0.191	3.827

Overview of the peatland characteristic of the 33 extracted quarries in Lithuania

Peatland	Peatland type	Area [ha]	Mean peat depth [m]	pH	C : N	Water level	Wood volume [M³⸱ha⁻¹]	Ecological condition	Restoration
Aukštoji plynė	raised bog	190	2.0	3.29	53.1	2−	124.82	bad
Aukštumala	raised bog	66	2.0	3.06	55.0	3+	10.18	satisfactory	yes
Bokštų – Klabų	fen / transitional mire	48	2.0	3.55	47.2	2−	90.76	bad
Burbonys	raised bog	225	1.6	3.13	64.5	2−	69.57	bad
Čelkiai	fen	65	2.0	3.28	73.8	2−	130.75	bad
Dabravolė	raised bog	71	2.0	2.95	60.0	2−	102.50	bad
Dainaviškiai	raised bog	153	2.0	3.19	58.2	2+	206.96	satisfactory
Derkintai	fen / transitional mire	75	2.0	6.05	25.0	4+	69.90	satisfactory
Didžlaukis	fen / raised bog	63	1.4	3.03	72.8	2−	63.07	bad
Dūčiai	fen / transitional mire	185	0.7	5.62	27.3	2−	64.65	bad
Ežerėlis	fen / transitional mire	581	1.0	3.08	38.7	2−	82.43	bad
Gaidukonys	fen	26	2.0	3.28	42.9	3+	157.13	satisfactory
Garonys	raised bog	80	2.5	3.04	70.3	2+	54.47	bad
Girdijauskai	fen	84	1.8	7.00	20.7	3−	17.79	bad
Januškiai	fen	60	2.0	5.76	26.0	4+	75.75	satisfactory
Kašučiai	raised bog	20	1.2	3.22	47.9	2−	121.41	bad
Kaušanka	fen / raised bog	88	2.0	4.39	56.0	2−	110.20	bad
Kazimierava	raised bog	19	2.0	2.82	56.1	3+	114.29	satisfactory
Laukagalis	raised bog	144	1.7	4.48	46.9	2−	75.38	bad
Leoniškė	raised bog	52	1.4	3.35	72.1	4+	125.46	satisfactory
Mažieji Mostaičiai	fen	10	1.0	3.74	23.8	3−	148.50	satisfactory
Paąžuolynė	raised bog	55	2.0	3.31	42.4	2+	119.32	satisfactory
Paduobys	fen	268	1.5	5.56	20.6	2+	79.26	satisfactory
Plinkšė	raised bog	70	2.0	2.73	68.2	3+	85.83	satisfactory	yes
Pūsčia	raised bog	87	6.0	3.56	52.2	3+	73.42	satisfactory	yes
Raistapelkė	transitional mire	44	2.0	5.56	23.3	4+	41.78	satisfactory
Raudonbalė	raised bog	36	2.0	3.06	61.1	2+	114.87	satisfactory
Rūdgiris	raised bog	21	2.0	3.34	32.6	2+	207.93	satisfactory
Sachara	raised bog	93	1.5	2.84	62.1	3+	121.04	satisfactory	yes
Saliečiai	fen	345	0.5	4.37	39.7	2−	94.42	bad
Sūsia	fen	455	1.2	4.37	39.7	2−	60.10	bad
Užpelkiai	raised bog	17	7.0	3.55	37.6	4+	23.45	satisfactory	yes
Vadakstis	raised bog	58	2.0	3.45	83.0	3+	71.23	bad
Total area		3,854

Drained and forgotten peat extraction sites: economic and carbon impacts of peat and water loss in spontaneously forested Lithuanian peatlands

Figures & Tables

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4.

Summary result values from the principal component analysis loading values

Estimated peatland extraction losses in terms of volume and monetary value for peat, water and carbon

Summary result values from the principal component analysis

Overview of the peatland characteristic of the 33 extracted quarries in Lithuania

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