Carbon Balance of a Boreal Bog During a Year With an Exceptionally Dry Summer

Alm, Jukka; Schulman, Leif; Waldén, Jari; Nykänen, Hannu; Martikainen, Pertti J.; Silvola, Jouko

doi:10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[0161:cboabb]2.0.co;2

Cited by 255 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…However, this carbon storage pool is threatened as many natural peatlands that are disturbed by human interference, for example, by peat cutting and land use change for agricultural use (Alm et al, 1999a;Drösler et al, 2008). In addition, the carbon storage potential of peatlands is threatened by climate-change-induced drought, as lower water tables lead to marked carbon emissions in peatland ecosystems (e.g., Alm et al, 1999b;Arneth et al, 2002;Aurela et al, 2007).…”

Section: Published By Copernicus Publications On Behalf Of the Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Can a bog drained for forestry be a stronger carbon sink than a natural bog forest?

et al. 2014

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Abstract. This study compares the CO 2 exchange of a natural bog forest, and of a bog drained for forestry in the pre-Alpine region of southern Germany. The sites are separated by only 10 km, they share the same soil formation history and are exposed to the same climate and weather conditions. In contrast, they differ in land use history: at the Schechenfilz site a natural bog-pine forest (Pinus mugo ssp. rotundata) grows on an undisturbed, about 5 m thick peat layer; at Mooseurach a planted spruce forest (Picea abies) grows on drained and degraded peat (3.4 m). The net ecosystem exchange of CO 2 (NEE) at both sites has been investigated for 2 years (July 2010-June 2012), using the eddy covariance technique. Our results indicate that the drained, forested bog at Mooseurach is a much stronger carbon dioxide sink (−130 ± 31 and −300 ± 66 g C m −2 a −1 in the first and second year, respectively) than the natural bog forest at Schechenfilz (−53 ± 28 and −73 ± 38 g C m −2 a −1 ). The strong net CO 2 uptake can be explained by the high gross primary productivity of the 44-year old spruces that overcompensates the two-times stronger ecosystem respiration at the drained site. The larger productivity of the spruces can be clearly attributed to the larger plant area index (PAI) of the spruce site. However, even though current flux measurements indicate strong CO 2 uptake of the drained spruce forest, the site is a strong net CO 2 source when the whole lifecycle since forest planting is considered. It is important to access this result in terms of the long-term biome balance. To do so, we used historical data to estimate the difference between carbon fixation by the spruces and the carbon loss from the peat due to drainage since forest planting. This rough estimate indicates a strong carbon release of +134 t C ha −1 within the last 44 years. Thus, the spruces would need to grow for another 100 years at about the current rate, to compensate the potential peat loss of the former years. In contrast, the natural bog-pine ecosystem has likely been a small but stable carbon sink for decades, which our results suggest is very robust regarding short-term changes of environmental factors.

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Section: Published By Copernicus Publications On Behalf Of the Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Can a bog drained for forestry be a stronger carbon sink than a natural bog forest?

et al. 2014

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“…30% of the total soil carbon (Gorham 1991). The mire carbon balance reacts sensitively to variations in climate; therefore, interannual variation (Alm et al 1999) or a directional change in climate (Oechel et al 1995) can turn northern mires from carbon sinks into carbon sources. This, in turn, would have important feedback effects on the current climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This, in turn, would have important feedback effects on the current climate change. Especially peat moisture content and water table level are important controls of mire carbon exchange (Shurpali et al 1995;Alm et al 1999;Riutta et al 2007b). The timing of snow and surface frost melt have been observed to have an important influence on the annual carbon budget of northern mires (Aurela et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variation in CO2 exchange at a northern aapa mire

et al. 2010

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We compared the CO 2 exchange and its controls in the plant communities of a strongly patterned aapa mire, the Kaamanen fen in northern Finland. Based on a systematic vegetation inventory and an ordination analysis, four plant community types were chosen for the study: Ericales-Pleurozium string tops, Betula-Sphagnum string margins, Trichophorum tussock flarks and Carex-Scorpidium wet flarks. We measured plant community CO 2 exchange with a closed chamber technique during the growing season of 2007 and early summer of 2008. Nonlinear regression models were used for simulating the CO 2 exchange over the measurement period for different mire components and for the whole mire. The CO 2 exchange dynamics distinguished two functional components in the mire: an ombrotrophic component (Ericales-Pleurozium string tops) and a minerotrophic component (other plant community types). Minerotrophic plant communities responded similarly to environmental controls, the most important of these being variation in leaf area and aerobic peat volume (water level). The ombrotrophic component dynamics were more obscure; frost and possibly peat moisture played a role. The minerotrophic communities functioned as effective CO 2 sinks in the simulation, while the net CO 2 exchange of the ombrotrophic community was close to zero. The smaller NEE of the ombrotrophic community was due to less efficient photosynthesis per unit leaf area in combination with high ecosystem respiration resulting from a large aerobic peat volume. Our study shows that a fen/bog functional dichotomy can also exist within one mire. Wet minerotrophic communities within northern mires can act as effective CO 2 sinks.

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“…Updegraff et al (1995) have suggested that changes in nitrogen supply could cause shifts in carbon storage. Furthermore, both Griffs et al (2000) and Alm et al (1999) show that a peatland can become a net source during dry or drought years. All these changes are due to temperature increase and water table variation, but DOC increase has been shown to be more than 5 times higher than would be expected by temperature alone (Worrall et al, 2004b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Drought Frequency – the Fate of DOC Export From British Peatlands

Worrall¹,

Burt

Adamson

2006

Climatic Change

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There is increasing evidence that drought is leading to increased loss of dissolved organic carbon from upland peats. Therefore, this study endeavours to understand the severity and frequency of the scale of drought responsible for driving the observed changes; and, by reconstructing climatic records, to understand whether such droughts are increasing in severity and frequency. The study suggests that there are two levels of drought severity important in the peatlands: a hydrological drought that causes hydrophobic effects in the upper peat profile lasting 3-4 years in duration, and a more severe biogeochemical drought that triggers new mechanisms of DOC production and decade-long effects. The study uses long term climate data from Central England and Northern England to reconstructs depth to water table for an upland peat catchment back to 1766 and shows that hydrological drought has a return period of 25 years and that biogeochemical drought has a return period of 15.5 years. Statistical modelling of the time series of annual droughts shows only weak evidence for an increasing frequency of severe droughts since 1766, but stronger evidence for the recent past. The return period of drought of sufficient severity to cause biogeochemical response is coming close to the length of effect such a drought would have, i.e. trends in drought frequency mean that peatlands may no longer be resilient to the impact of drought, with dire consequences for the storage of carbon in these environments.

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Carbon Balance of a Boreal Bog During a Year With an Exceptionally Dry Summer

Cited by 255 publications

References 41 publications

Can a bog drained for forestry be a stronger carbon sink than a natural bog forest?

Can a bog drained for forestry be a stronger carbon sink than a natural bog forest?

Spatial variation in CO2 exchange at a northern aapa mire

Trends in Drought Frequency – the Fate of DOC Export From British Peatlands

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