Balancing Emissions, Productivity and Soil Health: Rewetting and Soil Amendments in a Cultivated Lowland Peatland in NW England

In the UK, ~420,000 hectares of agricultural land is situated upon lowland peat, representing around 2.5 % of the total agricultural land area. These sites disproportionately contribute towards greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for ~3% of the UK’s annual reported CO₂-equivalent emissions. These emissions, in addition to rapid soil erosion in some lowland peatlands, highlight the need to implement sustainable land management practices that promote soil stability, enhance carbon retention, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions whilst supporting agricultural productivity in agriculturally managed lowland peatland. Few studies have explored the trade-offs between the environmental benefits of sustainable land practices and their potential effects upon farm businesses, and few studies have explored how such practices influence the biogeochemical processes driving greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient cycling, and soil carbon stability in these systems. To address these uncertainties, we are conducting a field-scale study at a farm in Tarleton, UK, formed of two adjacent fields: one managed under a ‘business-as-usual’ regime and the other undergoing rewetting. Here, we present an overview of our study and some preliminary results. Within each field, we will test the viability of various commercially available soil amendments within experimental plots. Over two growing seasons, we will monitor greenhouse gas fluxes (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O), soil and pore-water biogeochemistry and crop yields across the treatment plots. This will allow us to compare the environmental and economic outcomes of each treatment and to identify the biogeochemical processes underlying any observed changes. Our findings will inform UK land-use policy, offering evidence-based recommendations for reducing emissions from agricultural lowland peat whilst upholding soil integrity and food security. Our findings will also enhance our understanding of how different management changes affect biogeochemical processes within peatland soils. This study forms part of the Lowland Peat 3 Project, which will assess the environmental, economic, and social trade-offs of agricultural practices on lowland peatlands across the UK.