Full-cycle greenhouse gas balance of a Sphagnum paludiculture site on former bog grassland in Germany.

Growing Sphagnum on rewetted bogs (=Sphagnum paludiculture) is an alternative to drainage-based land use because it retains its value as productive land while mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, studies on GHG exchange covering the full production system and cycle are missing. Here, we combined data of the establishment phase with newly recorded data of a 7-year old Sphagnum paludiculture site in Germany including partial Sphagnum harvest.

Axenic in vitro cultivation of 19 peat moss (Sphagnum L.) species as a resource for basic biology, biotechnology, and paludiculture.

Sphagnum farming can substitute peat with renewable biomass and thus help mitigate climate change. Large volumes of the required founder material can only be supplied sustainably by axenic cultivation in bioreactors. We established axenic in vitro cultures from sporophytes of 19 Sphagnum species collected in Austria, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Russia, and Sweden: S.

Nutrient dynamics of Sphagnum farming on rewetted bog grassland in NW Germany.

The agricultural use of drained peatlands leads to huge emissions of greenhouse gases and nutrients. A land-use alternative that allows rewetting of drained peatland while maintaining agricultural production is the cultivation of Sphagnum biomass as a renewable substitute for fossil peat in horticultural growing media (Sphagnum farming). We studied Sphagnum productivity and nutrient dynamics during two years in two Sphagnum farming sites in NW Germany, which were established on drained bog grassland by sod removal, rewetting, and the introduction of Sphagnum fragments in 2011 and 2016, respectively.

Clonal in vitro propagation of peat mosses ( L.) as novel green resources for basic and applied research.

As builders and major components of peatlands, (peat mosses) are very important organisms for ecosystems and world's climate. Nowadays many species as well as their habitats are largely protected, while their scientific and economic relevance remains considerable. Advanced methods of in vitro cultivation provide the potential to work in a sustainable way with peat mosses and address aspects of basic research as well as biotechnological and economical topics like biomonitoring or the production of renewable substrates for horticulture ( farming).