Peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the biomass of the World’s forests. Vast areas of peatland have been drained and turned into CO2 sources. Their rewetting is essential to reduce CO2 emissions. But how exactly do the rewetted peatlands look like, do they resemble again the natural state?

Plants and soil organisms are tightly linked. In fact, plant species leave distinct local legacies in the soil and its microbiome. It was unknown how long these legacies persist, and what happens to it when new plants colonize soil with a legacy. In our new study, we tried to answer these questions.