Post-restoration development of organic carbon and nutrient leaching from two ecohydrologically different peatland sites

Restoration of drained peatland forests is an important tool in maintaining and improving biodiversity in the boreal region. It has been shown to cause leaching of nutrients from the restoration area to lower waterbodies. Two drained peatland systems of different ecohydrological types in the Nuuksio (60°18′N, 24°27′E) and Seitseminen (61°56′N, 23°26′E) national parks were restored and total organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus leaching was monitored for 6 years after restoration. The richer site proved to leach more nitrogen and less total organic carbon and phosphorus than the poor site although the per-treatment-area excess leaching of organic carbon caused by restoration was higher in the richer site. The pattern of excess leaching was more stable in the poor site. The differences in leaching reflect the ecohydrological differences between these two peatland basins.