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Plant a tree, save the 
. Right? Not so fast.... Follow this thread today to learn why tree planting is bad news for peat bogs, & thus bad news for the world's most efficient ecosystem for carbon storage. Evidence A: huge swaths of peat sliding down hill after tree planting. 1/ https://twitter.com/SaveKerry/status/1328059773825257475
. Right? Not so fast.... Follow this thread today to learn why tree planting is bad news for peat bogs, & thus bad news for the world's most efficient ecosystem for carbon storage. Evidence A: huge swaths of peat sliding down hill after tree planting. 1/ https://twitter.com/SaveKerry/status/1328059773825257475
Do you have a 
for bogs & peat? Want to learn more about why trees & bogs often spell trouble? Listen to this great podcast by @99piorg. We need our bogs in a natural state (not drained or planted) for climate benefits. I also explain bog breathing! 2/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/for-the-love-of-peat/
for bogs & peat? Want to learn more about why trees & bogs often spell trouble? Listen to this great podcast by @99piorg. We need our bogs in a natural state (not drained or planted) for climate benefits. I also explain bog breathing! 2/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/for-the-love-of-peat/
@99piorg focused on tree planting on UK bogs. I want to tell a lesser known story about the perils of draining bogs & forestry in continental regions like 
. This story begins with me poring through air photos in an Edmonton library. Anyone remember life before Google Earth? 3/
. This story begins with me poring through air photos in an Edmonton library. Anyone remember life before Google Earth? 3/
I was mindlessly flipping through a book of air photo records across central Alberta , and this one caught my eye & changed my scientific career. This 1:30,000 image shows the Saulteaux River surrounded by gorgeous rich fens. Anyone see anything curious here? 4/
, and this one caught my eye & changed my scientific career. This 1:30,000 image shows the Saulteaux River surrounded by gorgeous rich fens. Anyone see anything curious here? 4/
Above the gorgeous oxbow wetland, there's a network of drainage plots (20 or 40 meter spacing) carved into the treed fen. This was to see if draining peat soils could boost Alberta's forestry industry. I just had to find these plots. Trenches were still intact decades later! 5/
What did we learn from studying these drained fen plots? Well, not surprisingly, the trees became more productive soon after the trenches were dug into the peat. Here is a figure we published in @NatureComms showing tree productivity (open=undrained plots; black=drained). 6/
More surprising, though mosses disappeared (important to long-term carbon storage), we saw 2-fold increase in surface peat carbon because the peat became dense. If we stopped here, this work would be really different than in the UK. But this is not the end of my story.... 7/
One issue that @99piorg did not address is 
. This is so important for peat. Turns out, when I found the drainage plots, half of the area had burned in the Chisholm fire in 2001. Here is a photo of what a burned peatland can look like. 8/
. This is so important for peat. Turns out, when I found the drainage plots, half of the area had burned in the Chisholm fire in 2001. Here is a photo of what a burned peatland can look like. 8/
The drained peatland gained some carbon w/ more productive trees. But that carbon plus an additional 500 yrs of peat accumulation burned away w. the first . FIVE CENTURIES of carbon accumulation gone in probably an hour of burning. Just wow. 9/ https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1523
. FIVE CENTURIES of carbon accumulation gone in probably an hour of burning. Just wow. 9/ https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1523
Peatslides are occurring on temperate bog plantations. Boreal peat drainage & forestry led to catastrophic . Trees are good for carbon uptake & climate mitigation, sometimes! Peat is better always. We need to keep peat wet & protected from hazards. End of my story! 10/10
. Trees are good for carbon uptake & climate mitigation, sometimes! Peat is better always. We need to keep peat wet & protected from hazards. End of my story! 10/10
