Sustainable Environment

Peatlands in a Warming World: Reconciling Carbon, Conservation, and Productive Use

Peatlands store over 40% of the world’s soil carbon but cover only a fraction of the earth’s surface, making them critically important ecosystems in the context of climate change. The usage and associated management of peatlands has significant implications for their role in the carbon cycle. Intact peatlands act as long-term carbon sinks, serve as important refuges for unique biodiversity, and improve water quality by storing and breaking down pollutants. Degraded and drained peatlands are significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, communities across the globe depend on peatlands for livelihoods, agriculture, and resource use, creating complex trade-offs between long-term carbon storage, conservation, and agricultural production.

Peatlands are among the most vital ecosystems for regulating the global climate, yet they remain highly vulnerable to land-use pressures. Their unparalleled capacity to store carbon for millennia makes them critical climate regulators. However, when degraded, they release vast quantities of carbon back into the atmosphere, accelerating climate change. At the same time, the ecosystem services they provide, from biodiversity to water regulation to socio-economic well-being are equally unmatched. Decisions made today about conservation, restoration, and peatland management will have lasting impacts on both global carbon budgets and local livelihoods. Reconciling these roles is urgent and needed to ensure that these ecosystems build resilience in a changing world.

This Article Collection welcomes contributions that examine the many interconnected dimensions of peatland land use and management worldwide. We seek research that deepens understanding of how peatland management affects carbon and greenhouse gas dynamics, biodiversity, hydrology, and agricultural production across large and small scales. Studies that point toward sustainable practices, and pathways for restoration that balance ecological, social, and economic needs are also welcomed. Of particular interest are interdisciplinary perspectives that bridge environmental science with social and economic insights, but single-field studies and laboratory experiments are also welcome. Together, these contributions will provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of how peatlands function in a changing world, and how conservation, restoration, and productive use can be reconciled to secure their role in a sustainable future.

Keywords:

1. Peatlands
2. Carbon dynamics
3. Sustainable management
4. Ecosystem services
5. Restoration

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 21 August 2026.

Please contact Commissioning Editor Kara Roberts at [email protected] with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.

Dr. Sarah Cook is an interdisciplinary environmental educator and researcher with experience spanning Biology, Geography, Environmental Science, and Engineering. Her research and teaching interests revolve around addressing complex environmental challenges, including but not limited to climate change, nature-based solutions, human-ecosystem interactions, and the intricate dynamics of freshwater ecosystems, encompassing both tropical and temperate peatlands.

Dr. Mike Peacock a biogeochemist with a research focus on greenhouse gas and carbon dynamics in peatlands, wetlands and inland waters. He seeks to understand how these systems contribute to global greenhouse gas budgets, and is particularly interested in the role that human activity and management play in enhancing or mitigating these emissions.

Dr. Teresa Silverthorn is an aquatic ecologist and biogeochemist with a research focus on understanding how human activities impact ecosystem functioning in inland waters, to inform management and policy decisions. Her expertise is in greenhouse gas exchange, which she has examined in various contexts, including, climate change, forest harvest, drying, damming, and ditching.