The Impacts of Drained Peatlands in Northern Minnesota
Here at Mitigation Partners Inc. (MPI) is immense supporters of drained peatland restoration to help mitigate the effects of climate change. You may be wondering what impacts drained peatlands in Northern Minnesota have in terms of carbon emissions. Thankfully, “Impacts of historical ditching on peat volume and carbon in Northern Minnesota USA Peatlands” done through Michigan Technological University (MTU) and the USDA Forest Service took a look at just that. This post will summarize the key findings and put those findings into a global context.
To set the stage for these findings MPI encourages you to read our post on Peatland Carbon Storage found here (Internal link to general peatland post).
Important Details
The article composed by Krause et al. goes over important details to build the foundation of peatland knowledge, globally and Minnesota-specific. These details include:
Peatlands contain 30% of global soil carbon
Only cover 3% of the global land area
65 million hectares of peatland have been impacted by drainage
6 million acres of peatland in Minnesota (largely Northern Minnesota)
Estimated 33,000 km of drainage ditched and channelized waterways installed across the state
Systematic drainage was at its peak from 1900 to 1920
Uncommon new peatland drainage today
These few details are vital in building a picture to fully understand the impacts of drained peat in Northern Minnesota.
Key Findings
Now that important details are understood and foundational knowledge is set, MPI can go over the key findings from the study. Most importantly, the study found around 0.17% (0.259 Tg CO2 equivalent) of annual carbon emissions in Minnesota come from the ditch-affected area. This may not seem like a lot, but it is roughly equal to the CO2 emissions of 55,000 personal vehicles on an annual basis. Considering how large of a carbon sink healthy peatlands are, it is quite disheartening to see degraded peatlands emit so much CO2.
Another key point the article goes over is the need for studies to analyze the effects of drained peatlands on other greenhouse gasses (GHG). Citing how Nitrous oxide (N₂O) has a global warming potential of 265 to 298 times higher than CO2, and it increases after drainage.
Mitigation Partners, Inc. Founders Dax Dickson & Tory Christensen
Bottom Line
The key findings from the collaborative article between MTU and the Forest Service are influential when considering them from a restoration perspective. Restoring peatlands to the impressive carbon sink they are when healthy, can have major implications as far as climate mitigation. It would eliminate the 0.17% of annual Minnesota CO2 emissions due to ditched and drained peatland. Then it would add a further lift as it returned to its natural state and sequestered even more atmospheric carbon.
At MPI, we are the leading experts in restorative peatland projects throughout Minnesota. MPI believes in the potential of restoring drained and ditched peatland for a better now and future. We hope this post has shed some light on the impacts of ditched and drained peatlands. As always, please contact us for further information or if you would like to collaborate on a restoration project.
Sources:
Krause L, Kevin J. McCullough, Evan S. Kane, Randall K. Kolka, Rodney A. Chimner, Erik A. Lilleskov. (2021). Impacts of historical ditching on peat volume and carbon in northern Minnesota USA peatlands. Journal of Environmental Management, 296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113090.
