BERI

Bog Ecosystem Research Initiative

The BERI project is funded by the European Commission and started February 1 of 1996. Nine partners from five EU countries and associate partners from Eastern Europe and North America are contributing to this bog ecosystem research initiative.

The primary objective of the BERI project is to study, at five climatically different sites across Europe, the effects of elevated CO₂ and N deposition on the net exchange of CO₂ and CH₄ between bogs and the atmosphere. Secondly, to study the effects of elevated CO₂ and N deposition on the plant biodiversity of bog communities. These objectives further include the quantification of the impact of elevated CO₂ and N, specifically:

on the population dynamics of different species of peatmoss and selected vascular plants;
on the growth of dominant species in the bog ecosystem;
on the organochemical and structural properties of dominant mire plants;
on the decomposability of litter from mire plants;
on the emission of CH₄ from the bogs.

Quantification will facilitate the objective to develop process-oriented models that describe responses of botanical composition, C-sequestration and CH4 emission in bogs in Europe in response to possible scenarios of future changes in atmospheric CO₂, N deposition and climate.

contact :

Nico van Breemen
Wageningen Agricultural University
Department of Soil Science and Geology
P.O. Box 37
6700 AA Wageningen
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 317 482424
Fax: +31 317 482419
nico.vanbreemen@bodeco.beng.wau.nl

web site :

http://www.joensuu.fi/mekri/beri/index.htm