Molecular peat doctors: Understanding peatland health and targeting restoration investment through new molecular metrics

In brief:

• Peatlands are the world’s largest terrestrial carbon stores, but they can only deliver this crucial function if healthy.

• Dr Nicholle Bell and her group are developing powerful analytical chemistry methodologies to understand, from the molecular level, how peatlands store carbon, and which restoration practices are effective in restoring their carbon storage capacity.

• The Bell group’s work is now assessing peatlands globally, unravelling the composition of peat, identifying markers of good health, and guiding restoration efforts.

• The group works closely with a wide variety of landowners and with local communities to respect local conditions and maximise benefit.

Read more below.

While standard NMR experiments enable quantification of compound classes, the group also design 3D/4D NMR experiments to target specific types of molecule for identification. FT-ICR-MS, with its remarkable resoling power, allows the team to fingerprint the thousands of molecular formulae that make up the NOM in peaty waters. The School’s solid-state NMR spectrometer is then essential to investigate the significant part of peat which consists of non-soluble material. Using a combination of these different techniques allows a full characterisation of peat carbon which can then be linked to ecosystem health. By combining the peat carbon quality with microbial composition and diversity, the team can answer questions about how peat functions as a carbon store. This is important as it not only important to restore carbon storage but also important that the peatland is resilient to further changes. 

Improved molecular insight for global peatland restoration

The Bell group’s work is now assessing peatlands not only across Scotland, but globally at field sites in Canada and Sweden. Their methods enable the team to unravel the composition of peat, identify markers of good health, and guide restoration efforts.

At the same time, the group have developed an innovative method using tea bags as a simple proxy for monitoring the molecular changes in peat. Teabags are buried for a few months, recovered, and sent to the lab for analysis. The method provides a tool for landowners, conservation bodies and scientists to check the health status of peatlands in a non-invasive way, and make restoration decisions that best preserve our peatlands and maintain these vital carbon stores.

In 2024, Nicholle was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Environment, Sustainability and Energy Early Career Prize, recognising “innovations in high-resolution NMR spectroscopy and mass-spectrometry methods applied to the understanding of global carbon embedded in complex environmental matrices.”

https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/2024-winners/dr-nicholle-bell/ 

The importance of engagement

Peatlands have many and diverse stakeholders. The Bell group’s monitoring sites across the UK are under the management of landowners including the RSPB, Natural Resource Wales, National Trusts, NatureScot, private estates, and even the University of Edinburgh itself. For local communities, the local peatland is often part of their history, day-to-day life or occupation. Recognising that strong and authentic engagement with stakeholders is essential to show respect for local conditions and demonstrate mutual benefit, the Bell group have made this a core part of their activities.

The group engages regularly with local communities through participation in local events and by welcoming visitors on-site. These interactions provide invaluable opportunities to learn about local issues and reflect on the local and wider impacts of the research. It is also an opportunity to understand misconceptions about peatland management, and the group works to raise awareness of benefits. This includes discussions about historic uses of peat (e.g., moor burning) or questions on challenging topics (e.g., deer culling), combined with promoting understanding of the positive impacts of successful restoration, such as increased fish populations or improved water quality. 

For each of their monitoring sites, the research group has designed monitoring activities alongside stakeholders. The group openly share data and highlight useful site observations, from unusual bird sightings to broken bridges. They work flexibly to respect access restrictions to sites (nesting birds, wildfire risks, deer stalking etc.), and work with local experts to understand best practice - essential both for safeguarding ecosystems, and maintaining mutual trust.

The Bell Group

Development of methods using high resolution NMR, MS and DNA sequencing to characterise mixtures found in the natural environment but also in food and drink. Current projects:

• Examination of water quality in steams impacted by drained and extracted peatlands
• Understanding the impact of peatland drainage and drain-blocking on blanket bogs across the Northern Hemisphere
• Identifying molecular markers of peatland health.
• Creation of a simple monitoring tool using tea bags for peatland health monitoring
• Connecting soil carbon content and quality with remote sensing for whole site monitoring
• Solving the ‘chicken and egg’ question about drivers of peatland carbon storage by combining the microbes, molecules and enzymes.
• Impact of land-use change on reservoir dissolved organic matter.
• Improving the traditional soil enzyme assays
• Novel methods for in-situ measurement of peat VOCs.
• New NMR and MS methods for structure characterisation of disinfectant by-products
• Assessing the technological readiness of AI tools for peatland monitoring
• Monitoring the chemical changes that occur over whisky maturation
• Exploring the chemical space of the oldest scotch whisky
• Understanding the source of flavour compounds in peated whisky
• Characterisation of potential alternatives to peat for smoky whiskies.