Cutting Peat: The Historical Ecology and Dissection of the Chat Moss Ecosystem

Peatland is a biotope of international importance, because of its unique flora and fauna and, when in good condition, the potential for globally significant carbon sequestration and storage. Chat Moss is a peatland on the edge of the Greater Manchester conurbation in the northwest of England, the largest of a system of peatlands along the Mersey Valley. Peatland habitat on Chat Moss has been decimated over the past 200-300 years. However it is now the site of a landscape scale ecosystem restoration programme.

This investigation was conducted using written accounts, historical maps and biological recordings, supplemented by modern studies to examine the evidence for the original extent, landscape and species of the Chat Moss ecosystem, and define the mechanisms and timeframe of anthropogenic impacts on the landscape and ecology.

The cartographic evidence shows that the maximum extent of Chat Moss was 36 square kilometres. Land use change, with drainage, peat cutting and conversion to agriculture was, most rapid between 1779 and 1898 resulting in complete loss of primaeval peatland habitat and associated flora and fauna by the end of the 20th century. Chat Moss is located at the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution; during the 1800s Merseyside and south Lancashire were one of the UK’s largest generators of sulphur pollution due to unregulated chemical works employing the Leblanc alkali process. The resulting acid rain (HCl, SO2, H2S) contributed to the habitat degradation and loss of Sphagnum moss on the neighbouring lowland peatlands.

Having a clear understanding of an ecosystem’s baseline condition, as well as the factors responsible for habitat degradation, is essential for informing habitat restoration efforts and species reintroduction programmes.

泥炭地（Peatland）是具有国际重要性的生境类型，因其拥有独特的动植物区系，且在健康状态下具备全球级别的碳固存与储存潜力。查特莫斯湿地（Chat Moss）是坐落于英格兰西北部大曼彻斯特都会区边缘的一处泥炭地，同时也是默西河河谷沿线泥炭地系统中规模最大的一处。近200至300年来，查特莫斯湿地的泥炭地生境已遭到大规模破坏，但如今这里正开展一项景观尺度的生态系统修复工程。
本研究依托书面记录、历史地图与生物观测数据开展，并辅以现代研究手段，旨在考证查特莫斯湿地生态系统的原始分布范围、景观特征与物种组成，同时明确人为活动对该区域景观与生态造成影响的作用机制与时间进程。
制图证据显示，查特莫斯湿地的最大覆盖范围曾达36平方千米。1779年至1898年间，以排水、泥炭开采及转为农业用地为代表的土地利用变化进程最为迅猛，至20世纪末，原生泥炭地生境及其伴生的动植物区系已完全消失。查特莫斯湿地地处工业革命的核心区域：19世纪期间，默西塞德与南兰开夏郡因大量部署采用勒布朗制碱法（Leblanc alkali process）的无监管化工厂，成为英国境内硫污染的主要排放源之一。由此产生的酸雨（主要成分为氯化氢HCl、二氧化硫SO2与硫化氢H2S）进一步加剧了周边低地泥炭地的生境退化，并导致泥炭藓（Sphagnum moss）种群消亡。
清晰掌握生态系统的基线状态，以及引发生境退化的各类驱动因素，对于指导生境修复工作与物种重引入计划均具有核心指导意义。