Setting and reaching restoration targets for GHG exchange, ecosystem services and biodiversity of peatlands require a landscape ecological approach

Setting realistic targets for peatland restoration in specific areas, requires understanding of the key processes and functional relations in that specific type of peatland. Proper understanding of key processes and feed-back mechanisms, the landscape ecological setting and the limits to ecosystem restoration due to degradation, former and current land use and climate change are crucial in the process of drafting effective restoration strategies for peatlands.
For several examples of European fens and bogs, in a different state of degradation, we present landscape ecological analyses of the system, using geological and hydrological information, peat stratigraphy and former use of the peatland, as well as the actual conditions of the soil and peat layer, vegetation, microbiota and (in)vertebrate fauna. In this framework, we show how GHG exchange and recovery of the vegetation and biodiversity, including key species, is determined by key processes and conditions on different spatial and temporal scales. From this perspective, opportunities and requirements are considered for buffer zones between nature reserves and agricultural or urban environments, as well as the perspectives that paludiculture offers for recovery on a landscape scale. Given the acquired understanding of the actual and potential situation of the different peatland ecosystems, specific restoration goals are set and restoration strategies are developed accordingly.