Scientists in Denmark have established a programme to monitor the greenhouse gas balance in the country's peatlands.
Yearly levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions will be assessed in peat soil from three different areas.
The project will pay particular attention to the effects of draining the peatlands for agricultural use, according to a report in Farming UK.
It is believed that this practice leads to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the soil resulting from the decomposition of organic material that occurs when an area is drained.
The researchers hope to provide definitive figures relating to soil emissions in its cultivated peatlands, which can then be used to minimise the effects of draining the fields.
Scientists from the faculty of agricultural sciences at Aarhus University are collaborating with the Danish ministry of the environment to carry out the study.
Monitoring the greenhouse gas balance in agricultural soils falls under article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol, which set targets for 37 of the world's industrialised nations, as well as the European community, to reduce their emissions within a five-year timeframe between 2008 and 2012.
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