Impact of Drainage on the Physicochemical Parameters of the Peat Deposit and the Chemical Composition of Peat in a Raised Boreal Bog

The paper presents the results of a study of physical, chemical, and physicochemical parameters of the peat deposit in a raised boreal bog areas in both natural and drained states. Data were obtained on the quantitative content of the main groups of components in the organic part of peat (bitumens, humic and fulvic acids, easily and difficultly hydrolyzable compounds, and non-hydrolyzable residue). It is shown that the intensification of oxidative processes due to drainage leads to a slight increase in the proportion of thermodynamically stable compounds — humic acids and bitumens, as well as the non-hydrolyzable residue in peat. It was found that the most significant differences in the parameters determined in the study are characteristic of the pairs of sites “natural-drained” and “natural-rewetted”, while the differences between the disturbed sites for most parameters are not significant, as confirmed by the results of the Mann–Whitney U-test.

peat, raised bog, drainage, physicochemical parameters, ash content, organic matter