Ammendatud freesturbaväljade taasmetsastamine: puutuha mõju biomassi formeerumisele ja süsiniku bilansile

Alternatives to the restoration of cutaway peatlands include afforestation, energy forests, agricultural production, wetland restoration (restoration of peataccumulating function), reed canary grass (energy mower) or wild berries (blueberry, cranberry) cultivation, protected area for birds, and artifi cial lakes. Investigations made in several countries suggest that one of the most promising ways of regenerating cutaway peatlands is afforestation. The re-vegetation of Estonian cutaway peat production fi elds is mainly the result of natural processes, which are generally very slow: vegetation covers only 10–20% of a peat fi eld. Carbon dioxide is not bound anymore in cutaway peatlands where vegetation layer has been destroyed and therefore photosynthetical processes no more occur. Using biofuel ashes (wood ash, etc.) for the afforestation of cutaway peatlands helps to balance the content of nutrients in peat substrate, which improves the survival of planted seedlings and signifi cantly increases bioproduction. Drained and mined peatlands have become a signifi cant source of CO2 but stimulated woody biomass production can be helpful to balance CO2 emission from cutaway peatlands. Because of the limited resources of fossil fuels and negative impacts on the environment in recent decades alternative sources of energy have been actively looked for. In Scandinavia a lot of attention has been paid to fi nding possibilities for using biofuels. The situation in Estonia is that only very few types of ashes (for example certifi ed oil shale fl y ash with product name Enefi x) have been founded to be suitable for utilization and have been used for recycling in agriculture.