Biometeorological feedbacks on peatlands: Raising the water table to reduce meteorologically-related stress on cattle

Peatland restoration is an important mitigation action in the fight against climate change. Researchers encourage farmers to rewet deep-drained lands on organic soil to a shallow water table depth (WTD) to reduce carbon emissions. Raising WTD under grasslands will likely affect local air temperature (TA) and increase relative humidity (RH), with uncertain consequences during heat waves on cattle welfare. We used WTD, TA and RH data (both measured between 1.25 and 2 m above ground) from 22 peatland sites globally to evaluate peatlands’ overall Temperature Humidity Index (THI), an indicator correlated to cattle welfare used in dairy farms (THI>68 increases heart rate, breathing rate and reduces milk yield). We compared them with THI at state weather stations located on neighbouring lands with short grass on non-organic soil, and assessed the impact of WTD.

At most sites, peatlands with shallow WTD had lower TA, higher RH, and an overall lower THI than surrounding lands, compared to those with deep WTD. In most cases, THI decreased with increasing WTD, especially at night in the temperate region, except for coastal peatlands. Shallow and submerged sites had 20 % less hours with stressful meteorologic conditions (high THI) than surrounding areas. In contrast, the number of hours with high THI did not change significantly on peatlands with WTD under 20 cm below ground level compared to control sites. Our results confirm the influence of WTD on local temperature and THI, and suggest that raising WTD on drained peatlands will slightly improve cattle welfare with reduced THI during heat waves, but also acknowledge that local geographic characteristics add complexity to this relationship. Our research indicates that raising WTD to ground level in sections of grasslands could provide “heat wave shelters” and increase cattle resilience to climate change while contributing to the global reduction of carbon emissions.