Hutton to lead £2.7 million project to safeguard peat moss against changing climate
The James Hutton Institute is set to lead a £2.7 million project to accelerate climate adaptation in Sphagnum moss – supporting peatland carbon storage, biodiversity and water retention.
The project, titled FutureMoss, is funded by the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Accelerated Adaptation’ programme and will last for two years. It brings together academics from the Hutton, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and the University of Dundee to identify and develop new varieties of Sphagnum which are more resistant and resilient to drought and changing weather patterns.
Sphagnum moss is a primary building block of northern peatlands and is unusual in that it has no roots or stomata – the tiny openings that help most plants regulate water loss. Instead, it depends on its cellular and tissue structure to hold water, making it especially vulnerable to dry conditions and climate change.
To tackle this, the FutureMoss team will identify local populations of Sphagnum across the UK and Ireland which are naturally drought-resistant and study their genetic and biological traits. They will also develop methods for producing new drought-tolerant Sphagnum varieties, including establishing controlled breeding – a first for Sphagnum.
Of the funding total, £2 million will support work at the Hutton, with the rest being shared amongst the other project partners.
Dr Tom Parker, an upland ecologist at the Hutton and leader of the FutureMoss project, said, “The UK is experiencing increasingly severe drought events and peat mosses are on the front line. We need these mosses to underpin effective peatland function and aid with their restoration.
“In FutureMoss, we want to realise climate-resilient landscapes by boosting their genetic capacity to resist and bounce back from drought.”
Dr Mascha Bischoff, a peatland chemical ecologist at University of the Highlands and Islands, said, “Sphagnum mosses already show natural variations in how they respond to drought.
“FutureMoss will explore how we can use these differences to help peatlands adapt to climate change.”
Dr James Cash, an atmospheric scientist at UKCEH, added, “By measuring the chemical cues released by mosses into the atmosphere during drought, we can identify the varieties most likely to thrive in a changing climate.”
