Trollberget Experimental Area (TEA)

Millions of hectares of northern peatlands were drained for forestry, which has increased forest productivity in some areas, but not all. The future fate of these drainage ditches can be to: 

1) ecologically restore them to a more natural state , 

2) clean them to ensure continued drainage, or 

3) leave them alone. 

In fall of 2018, we added six stations to the Krycklan water quality monitoring network in a side-by-side comparison of three different management options with the goal of determining their effects on water quality and quantity. We call this area “Trollberget” and it began with the EU LIFE program’s GRIP on LIFE Integrated Project that includes demonstration areas for the restoration of an unproductive drained peatland and best practices for cleaning of forest ditches.

Ecological restoration was performed using best practices, namely, by cutting the remaining trees on the mire, using them to create dams, as well as filling in the ditches with peat found on site. Ditch cleaning was performed with a standard excavator following the Swedish Strategic Management Objectives. The original project has expanded to include other ongoing studies of forestry practices, including forest harvest and riparian buffer design as well as other potential environmental effects from these management actions, including greenhouse gas emissions, carbon and water cycling, and biodiversity, among others.