Peatland Afforestation: Effects and Restoration
type: CreativeWork
description: The Flow Country of northern Scotland represents one of the world’s most extensive and ecologically significant blanket bog systems, recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This thesis examines the impacts of large-scale non-native conifer afforestation on the biodiversity of this globally important peatland, the ecological outcomes of restoration interventions, and the implications for conservation management and policy. Using a combination of comparative global assessments, long-term species monitoring, and large-scale experimental restoration trials, the research provides new insights into the drivers of biodiversity change and the recovery potential of degraded peatlands. A global comparison of bird assemblages across major blanket bog landscapes demonstrated the exceptional international value of the Flow Country for peatland-dependent bird species. The region supports an unparalleled assemblage, with species richness exceeding that of other high-quality peatland sites worldwide. This finding contributed to the case for its World Heritage inscription and underscored the critical importance of maintaining high-quality wetland biodiversity data for international conservation assessment. Historical afforestation, involving over 67,000 ha of non-native conifer plantations, has profoundly altered avian community composition, replacing specialist open-bog species with woodland-associated taxa generally of lower conservation priority. Synthesis of existing literature and population data showed disproportionate losses among species of high conservation concern, with long-term implications for biodiversity if naturally open habitats are not safeguarded from future afforestation. Long-term monitoring of waterfowl populations revealed divergent trends among species, in some cases contrary to national patterns, emphasising the importance of site-specific ecological processes, including habitat change, predator dynamics, and restoration. Focused study of the Co…
abstract: The Flow Country of northern Scotland represents one of the world’s most extensive and ecologically significant blanket bog systems, recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This thesis examines the impacts of large-scale non-native conifer afforestation on the biodiversity of this globally important peatland, the ecological outcomes of restoration interventions, and the implications for conservation management and policy. Using a combination of comparative global assessments, long-term species monitoring, and large-scale experimental restoration trials, the research provides new insights into the drivers of biodiversity change and the recovery potential of degraded peatlands. A global comparison of bird assemblages across major blanket bog landscapes demonstrated the exceptional international value of the Flow Country for peatland-dependent bird species. The region supports an unparalleled assemblage, with species richness exceeding that of other high-quality peatland sites worldwide. This finding contributed to the case for its World Heritage inscription and underscored the critical importance of maintaining high-quality wetland biodiversity data for international conservation assessment. Historical afforestation, involving over 67,000 ha of non-native conifer plantations, has profoundly altered avian community composition, replacing specialist open-bog species with woodland-associated taxa generally of lower conservation priority. Synthesis of existing literature and population data showed disproportionate losses among species of high conservation concern, with long-term implications for biodiversity if naturally open habitats are not safeguarded from future afforestation. Long-term monitoring of waterfowl populations revealed divergent trends among species, in some cases contrary to national patterns, emphasising the importance of site-specific ecological processes, including habitat change, predator dynamics, and restoration. Focused study of the Co…
author: Hughes, Robert David
language: eng
date published: 2026-1-22
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:12:12Z
provider: University of the Highlands and Islands
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of the Highlands and Islands