Mountain Fen Restoration in Colorado: an Overview
Chimer RA and Cooper DJ. 2012. Mountain Fen Restoration in Colorado: an Overview. In 14th International Peat Congress. Stockholm, Sweden. June 3-8, 2012
SUMMARY: Peatlands and disturbances to peatlands are common in many mountain ranges. This talk is an overview of restoration approaches that have been conducted in the mountains of Western North America, especially Colorado. Ditches are one of the most common disturbances in mountain fens. The two main methods of ditch restoration are ditch plugging and filling, however, both are more difficult on steep slopes of mountain fens. Successful ditch restoration has been found to improve both water and carbon cycling in the fens, but peat physical properties were still not restored 20 years post-restoration. Other restoration techniques that will be covered include: burial, frost heaving, and erosion control of fens.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Chimer, Rod; Cooper, David
- Units
- ROMO
- Keywords
- carbon, ditching, frost heave, hydrology, peatlands