Mika Nieminen 
,
Erkki Ahti,
Harri Koivusalo,
Tuija Mattsson,
Sakari Sarkkola,
Ari Laurén
Export of suspended solids and dissolved elements from peatland areas after ditch network maintenance in south-central Finland
Nieminen M., Ahti E., Koivusalo H., Mattsson T., Sarkkola S., Laurén A. (2010). Export of suspended solids and dissolved elements from peatland areas after ditch network maintenance in south-central Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 44 no. 1 article id 161. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.161
Abstract
In Finland nearly 6 million hectares of peatlands are drained for forestry purposes. Ditch network maintenance in the drained peatlands, i.e. cleaning old ditches or digging complementary ditches, deteriorates surface water quality by increasing the export of dissolved elements and suspended solids (SS). Effect of ditch network maintenance on the export of SS, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and dissolved nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), iron (Fe), aluminum (Al) and manganese (Mn) was studied in nine pairs of treated and control (no maintenance) catchments located in southern and central Finland. In this study we extended the paired catchment approach by combining data from several catchments and identifying the treatment effect on SS and element loads from the entire dataset. Following the method of Laurén et al. (2009) we identified how uncertainty in correlation between treatment and control catchments during pre-treatment period is reflected in the estimated treatment effect on SS and element loads. In the experiment, the export of SS increased significantly for the four year study period following the ditch network maintenance and Al export increased for one year. The export of N, P and Fe was not significantly changed and DOC and Mn export decreased after the ditch maintenance operation.
Keywords
drained peatlands;
forestry;
ditching;
hydrochemistry;
nutrient export;
suspended solids
-
Nieminen,
Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland
E-mail
mika.nieminen@metla.fi
- Ahti, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail ea@nn.fi
- Koivusalo, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Aalto University School of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 15200, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland E-mail hk@nn.fi
- Mattsson, Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland E-mail tm@nn.fi
- Sarkkola, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail ss@nn.fi
- Laurén, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Joensuu Research Unit, P.O. Box 68, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail al@nn.fi
Received 29 April 2009 Accepted 20 January 2010 Published 31 December 2010
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