Cultivation of Typha spp. in constructed wetlands for peatland restoration

This paper presents a new concept for the restoration of an agricultural landscape. The combination of water purification and peatland restoration was tested in a degraded fen area in southern Germany. For this purpose, Typha angustifolia L. and T. latifolia L. were cultivated in constructed wetlands. The wetlands were provided with drainage water from an agricultural watershed. The system presented here seems well suited to fulfil the important functional objectives for peatland restoration. First, a water regime typical of fenland was re-established and second, the Typha stands showed a high phytomass production. Consequently the function of the peatland as a sink in the nutrient cycle may be reactivated. Preliminary results for vegetation monitoring, water quality and gas flux measurements are briefly presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.