Fully-funded PhD: The impact of peatland rewetting on invertebrate and microbial assemblages

This research project focuses on evaluating the ecological benefits of peatland restoration in the UK, with a particular emphasis on upland areas in the Peak District National Park. Healthy peatlands play a vital role in carbon sequestration, climate regulation, water management, and biodiversity support. However, approximately 80% of UK peatlands are degraded, compromising these essential ecosystem functions. Significant restoration efforts, such as gully blocking, bunding and rewetting, have been implemented over the past 15 years, creating thousands of small ponds and bogs to raise water tables and reduce erosion. Despite significant investment, there is limited evidence on the long-term biological impacts of these interventions. This project will take a systemic, evidence-based approach to assess biodiversity indicators and ecosystem functioning across restored sites. It aims to fill critical knowledge gaps by comparing restoration outcomes over time and across different management regimes. The findings will inform future policy, guide land management practices, and support stakeholders, including conservation organisations, private landowners, and the water industry, in making data-driven decisions for sustainable peatland recovery. The student will have access to our new state-of-the-art £117M Dalton building including our new specialist laboratory facilities. 

Project aims and objectives

Aim: Quantify biodiversity and ecosystem change due to peatland restoration. 

Objectives:

1. Literature review on the current evidence surrounding peatland restoration success in the UK. 
2. Identify a selection of peatland sites that allow robust replication and cover a broad range of restoration timelines and interventions.
3. Collect field data to provide novel evidence for patterns of biodiversity gains/losses, using key bioindicator groups (e.g. freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates, microbial communities) and associated environmental factors. 
4. Carry out detailed lab-based taxonomy of collected invertebrate material and analyse water and soil parameters. 
5. Statistically evaluate causal effects of the ecological and functional outcomes of rewetting schemes, evidencing the spatial and temporal patterns of biodiversity and environmental parameters.