Project overview

The proportional extent of peat on the Falkland Islands rivals that of any other country at around 4529 km² or approximately 43% of the land area. The nature of land use, ranging from grazing and drainage through to peat cutting, is thought to have resulted in these peatlands becoming a carbon source, in the region of 1,149,326 t CO₂e yr^-1. However, no direct measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from Falkland peat has been published; therefore, it is unknown whether these peatlands continue to sequester carbon or are now net sources of emissions. This project will begin to quantify greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from these systems and determine the influence of land use on GHG fluxes. It will investigate the underlying drivers of these emissions through organic geochemical analysis and microbiological techniques before upscaling findings to the wider Falklands landscape.

Project Objectives

• GHG flux - Maintain static chamber sites for GHG flux measurements over a minimum of a six month period. Combine these fluxes with meterological, edaphic and vegetation data to determine key drivers of CO₂ and CH₄ Establish key drivers of NEE in Falkland Peat and use Earth Observation to upscale findings
• Microbial community – Collect samples of microbial communities from across the Falklands, sequence and analyse these communities evaluating the richness and composition in peat at depth. Determine which parts of the community may be offering the greatest contribution to GHG flux
• Organic geochemistry – Analyse full depth peat cores using FTIR to establish the structure of organic matter within Falkland Island peat, determine how this changes with depth or between sites. Use supplementary analytical techniques to determine the contribution of plants to organic matter, the presence of respiration end products to determine key zones of microbial activity and carbon cycling
• Carbon stock - Contextualise gas flux data by carrying out wider surveys of the edaphic and vegetation conditions along with peat depth across the Falklands and under different grazing managements. Apply gas flux data to these sites to enable more accurate upscaling of results and understanding of total carbon stock.

Year in review: July 2024 - June 2025

This year Katy paused her PhD to take an R&D Fellowship position with the UK Government Department for Food and Rural Affairs. Rather than focussing on Falkland Island peatlands she shifted her attention to lowland agricultural peat in the UK and the feasibility of reducing emissions from these landscapes through a transition to paludiculture. In this project she was engaging with peatland researchers across Europe to build the evidence base for potential emissions reductions but also looking at the various markets for paludiculture crops and the proportion of the UK’s land area that would be required to meet these market demands. Despite this role Katy made a visit back to the Falklands in February to assist in the running of the Rural Business Associations Land Recovery Workshop where she delivered a session. Whilst back in the Falkland Islands, Katy also returned to Peaty Pals and the secondary school where she delivered sessions aiming to continue inspiring the growing interest in peatlands across the Islands. Katy has now returned to her PhD and is in the last few months of writing up chapters and papers from her thesis.

Key highlights

•  Supporting a potential Land Recovery Programme in the Falkland Islands through delivering a 2-day workshop with the Rural Businesses Association aimed at bringing together conservationists, local government, landowners and researchers to discuss potential solutions to environmental issues across the islands.
•  Delivering talks at Peaty Pals and the local secondary school
•  Completing an R&D fellowship with DEFRA looking at the potential for paludiculture in the UK and publishing two technical reports