Climate projections forecast a redistribution of seasonal precipitation for much of the globe into fewer, larger events spaced between longer dry periods, with negligible changes in seasonal rainfall totals. This intensification of the rainfall regime is expected to alter near-surface water availability, which will affect plant performance and carbon uptake. This could be especially important in peatland systems, where large stores of carbon are tightly coupled to water surpluses limiting decomposition. Here, we examined the role of precipitation frequency on vegetation growth and carbon dioxide (CO ) balances for communities dominated by a Sphagnum moss, a sedge, and an ericaceous shrub in a cool temperate poor fen. Field plots and laboratory monoliths received one of three rainfall frequency treatments, ranging from one event every three days to one event every 14 days, while total rain delivered in a two-week cycle and the entire season to each treatment remained the same. Separating incident rain into fewer but larger events increased vascular cover in all peatland communities: vascular plant cover increased 6× in the moss-dominated plots, nearly doubled in the sedge plots, and tripled in the shrub plots in Low-Frequency relative to High-Frequency treatments. Gross ecosystem productivity was lowest in moss communities receiving low-frequency rain, but higher in sedge and shrub communities under the same conditions. Net ecosystem exchange followed this pattern: fewer events with longer dry periods increased CO flux to the atmosphere from the moss while vascular plant-dominated communities became more of a sink for CO . Results of this study suggest that changes to rainfall frequency already occurring and predicted to continue will lead to increased vascular plant cover in peatlands and will impact their carbon-sink function.
Abstract. Predicted changes to the precipitation regime in many parts of the world include intensifying the distribution into lower frequency, large magnitude events. The corresponding alterations to the soil moisture regime may affect plant growth and soil respiration, particularly in peatlands, where large stores of organic carbon are due to gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) exceeding ecosystem respiration (ER). This study uses a combined lab and field approach to examine the effect of changing rainfall frequency on peatland moisture controls on CO2 uptake in an undisturbed cool temperate poor fen. Lab 10 monoliths and field plots containing mosses, sedges, or shrubs received either 2.3, 1, or 0.5 events per week, with total rainfall held constant. Decreasing rain frequency led to lower near-surface volumetric moisture content (VMC), water table (WT), and soil tension for all vegetation types, with minimal effect on evapotranspiration. The presence of sedges in particular led to soil tensions > -100 cm of water of a sizeable duration (37 %) of the experiment. Altered rainfall frequencies affected GEP but had little effect on ER: overall low-frequency rain led to reduced net CO2 uptake for all three vegetation types. VMC had a strong 15 control on GEP and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of the Sphagnum capillifolium monoliths, and decreasing rainfall frequency influenced these relationships. Overall, communities dominated by mosses became net sources of CO2 after three days without rain, whereas sedge communities remained net sinks for up to 14 days without rain. Results of this study demonstrate the hydrological controls of peatland CO2 exchange dynamics influenced by changing precipitation frequency and suggest these predicted changes in frequency will lead to increased vascular plant growth and limit the carbon-sink function 20 of peatlands.
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