News

Peatlands must be wet - immediately

160 scientists agree at WETSCAPES conference

13/09/2019 Peatlands must be wet - immediately. A quick stop to peatland drainage is necessary to achieve global climate protection goals. This is a summary of the results of the international conference held 10.-13.09.2019 at the University of Rostock. 160 scientists from 20 countries discussed the results of their research in drained, rewetted and near-natural peatlands at the WETSCAPES conference. Representatives from various disciplines talked about plant growth, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient losses and microbial processes in the soil. Most of these scientists deal with individual phenomena, and together they were able to establish clear relationships and connections between the results. This is particularly important for rewetted peatlands, as these systems represent completely novel ecosystems. The four-year joint research project WETSCAPES (derived from "wet" and "landscapes") is funded by the Excellence Research Programme of the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with 5 million euros at the Universities of Greifswald, Partner in the Greifswald Moor Centrum, and Rostock. The abstract volume of the conference is available here.