WETSCAPES2.0 is the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 410 funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). It focuses on rewetted fens in North-East Germany that, after decades of drainage, have developed into novel ecosystems: so-called “Wetscapes 2.0”.

The 68-member interdisciplinary research consortium investigates how hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological processes change within rewetted peatlands and how they are linked across space and time – both within the peatlands and beyond landscape boundaries. To do so, WETSCAPES2.0 combines chronosequences, intensive field research, landscape experiments, mesocosm experiments and process-based modelling.

The results provide a functional understanding of these rewetted peatlands. They provide a scientific basis for political decision-making and practical action – from sustainable peatland management to rewetting strategies in line with EU climate targets, including future scenarios such as paludiculture or renaturation.