Machine peat cutting and land use change on blanket bog in Northern Ireland

The amount of blanket peat in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) in Northern Ireland, its associated vegetation and recent changes in peatland exploitation have been estimated from a random sample of 25 ha grid squares stratified by multivariate land class. tal estimated area of peatland, defined on the basis of its vegetation, was 1190 km2, with approximately one third of this consisting of intact peat. The total estimated area of machine cut peat was 51·7 km2. Estimates of the area of peatland with active hand cutting, disused hand cutting, new drains, old drains, disturbance, burning and erosion have also been established. te of increase of mechanical peat cutting between 1987–1989 was marked in the Sperrins AONB (14·7% annual increase), particularly in wet bog. Most machine cut plots were being harvested by auger cutters for domestic purposes with a quarter of plots being cut commercially. Access to peat was largely by traditional tracks but in Fermanagh, a high proportion of plots were being accessed along recently constructed tracks. al variation in the composition and distribution of peatland vegetation is described, together with the methods and socio—economic context of mechanized peat extraction. The ecological effects of land use change on blanket bog vegetation are discussed, particularly in relation to peat extraction, agriculture and nature conservation.