Chapter 2 Northern Peatlands: their characteristics, development and sensitivity to climate change

Tarnocai, C.; Stolbovoy, V. S.

doi:10.1016/s0928-2025(06)09002-x

Cited by 53 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The boreal zone encompasses both the boreal and subarctic peatland regions (Tarnocai and Stolbovoy 2006), with 67% of the boreal peatlands occurring as bogs, 32% as fens, and the remainder (1%) as swamps and marshes. Two notable extensive boreal peatland areas occur in the Mackenzie River Valley in the northwest and the Hudson Plain in the east, the latter being the single largest peatland complex in North America and the second largest in the northern hemisphere (Gorham 1991;Glooschenko et al 1994).…”

Section: Properties and Attributes Of Wetlands In The Boreal Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wetland type is largely determined by the strength of connection to the groundwater system and the physical and chemical nature of the underlying geology (National Wetlands Working Group 1997). The natural succession of boreal wetlands is from open water to fen and eventually to bog as peat accumulation becomes sufficient to disconnect the peatland from groundwater (Zoltai et al 1988;Tarnocai and Stolbovoy 2006). In northern parts of the boreal zone, peatlands may contain permafrost (i.e., ground that remains frozen for greater than two years) (Brown 1967).…”

Section: Properties and Attributes Of Wetlands In The Boreal Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Industrial development within Canada's boreal zone has increased in recent decades. Forest management activities, pulp and paper operations, electric power generation, mining, conventional oil and gas extraction, nonconventional oil sand development, and peat mining occur throughout the boreal zone with varying impacts on water resources. We review impacts of these industries on surface water, groundwater, and wetlands recognizing that heterogeneity in the dominance of different hydrologic processes (i.e., precipitation, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, and runoff generation) across the boreal zone influences the degree of impacts on water resources. Through the application of best management practices, forest certification programs, and science-based guidelines, timber, pulp and paper, and peat industries have reduced their impacts on water resources, although uncertainties remain about long-term recovery following disturbance. Hydroelectric power developments have moved toward reducing reservoir size and creating more natural flow regimes, although impacts of aging infrastructure and dam decommissioning is largely unknown. Mineral and metal mining industries have improved regulation and practices, but the legacy of abandoned mines across the boreal zone still presents an ongoing risk to water resources. Oil and gas industries, including non-conventional resources such as oil sands, is one of the largest industrial users of water and, while significant progress has been made in reducing water use, more work is needed to ensure the protection of water resources. All industries contribute to atmospheric deposition of pollutants that may eventually be released to downstream waters. Although most industrial sectors strive to improve their environmental performance with regards to water resources, disruptions to natural flow regimes and risks of degraded water quality exist at local to regional scales in the boreal zone. Addressing the emerging challenge of managing the expanding, intensifying, and cumulative effects of industries in conjunction with other stressors, such as climate change and atmospheric pollution, across the landscape will aid in preserving Canada's rich endowment of water resources.Key words: natural resources, development, hydrology, biogeochemistry, cumulative effects, water quality, water quantity. Résumé :Le développement industriel dans la zone boréale canadienne s'est accru au cours des récentes décades. Les activités en aménagement forestier, les opérations dans les pâtes et papiers, la génération de pouvoir électrique, les mines, l'extraction de l'huile et du gaz conventionnel, le développement non conventionnel des sables bitumineux ainsi que le prélèvement de la tourbe s'effectuent sur l'ensemble de la zone boréale avec divers impacts sur les ressources hydriques. Les auteurs passent en revue les impacts de ces industries sur l'eau de surface, l'eau souterraine et les terrains humides, tout en reconnaissant que l'hétérogénéité de la dominance des différents processus ...

show abstract

Section: Properties and Attributes Of Wetlands In The Boreal Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Properties and Attributes Of Wetlands In The Boreal Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Gelisols and Histosols are affected by specific pedogenic processes that may cause C to be incorporated into the deeper layers of soils. These include cryoturbation (Turbels only), long-term accumulation of peat (Histels and Histosols only) and repeated deposition and stabilization of organicrich material (alluvium, proluvium, colluvium, lacustrine, marine or wind-blown deposits) in mineral syngenetic permafrost deposits (Ping et al, 1998;Tarnocai and Stolbovoy, 2006;Ping et al, 2011;Schirrmeister et al, 2011;Strauss et al, 2012). For permafrost-free mineral soils the main mechanisms for moving SOC into deeper soil layers are deep plant rooting, leaching of dissolved organic carbon, and burial of organic matter by repeated deposition.…”

Section: Data Set Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these regions, low temperatures and high soil-water contents reduce decomposition rates (Davidson and Janssens, 2006) and fire combustion losses (Harden et al, 2000). Important processes of soil organic C (SOC) accumulation include peat formation, sustained accumulation of syngenetic sedimentary deposits and burial of SOC through cryoturbation (Ping et al, 1998;Tarnocai and Stolbovoy, 2006;Schirrmeister et al, 2011).Together this has resulted in an accumulation of large stocks of SOC in permafrost mineral soils, organic soils, deltaic deposits and ice-rich, late Pleistocene silty deposits (Yedoma) (Schuur et al, 2008). If widespread permafrost thaw occurs, SOC that was previously protected in permafrost may be mineralized leading to increased greenhouse gas fluxes to the atmosphere Schuur et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new data set for estimating organic carbon storage to 3 m depth in soils of the northern circumpolar permafrost region

Hugelius

Bockheim

Camill

et al. 2013

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

175

167

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. High-latitude terrestrial ecosystems are key components in the global carbon cycle. The Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database (NCSCD) was developed to quantify stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) in the northern circumpolar permafrost region (a total area of 18.7 × 10 6 km 2 ). The NCSCD is a geographical information system (GIS) data set that has been constructed using harmonized regional soil classification maps together with pedon data from the northern permafrost region. Previously, the NCSCD has been used to calculate SOC storage to the reference depths 0-30 cm and 0-100 cm (based on 1778 pedons). It has been shown that soils of the northern circumpolar permafrost region also contain significant quantities of SOC in the 100-300 cm depth range, but there has been no circumpolar compilation of Published by Copernicus Publications. G. Hugelius et al.:A new data set for estimating organic carbon storage pedon data to quantify this deeper SOC pool and there are no spatially distributed estimates of SOC storage below 100 cm depth in this region. Here we describe the synthesis of an updated pedon data set for SOC storage (kg C m −2 ) in deep soils of the northern circumpolar permafrost regions, with separate data sets for the 100-200 cm (524 pedons) and 200-300 cm (356 pedons) depth ranges. These pedons have been grouped into the North American and Eurasian sectors and the mean SOC storage for different soil taxa (subdivided into Gelisols including the sub-orders Histels, Turbels, Orthels, permafrost-free Histosols, and permafrost-free mineral soil orders) has been added to the updated NCSCDv2. The updated version of the data set is freely available online in different file formats and spatial resolutions that enable spatially explicit applications in GIS mapping and terrestrial ecosystem models. While this newly compiled data set adds to our knowledge of SOC in the 100-300 cm depth range, it also reveals that large uncertainties remain. Identified data gaps include spatial coverage of deep (> 100 cm) pedons in many regions as well as the spatial extent of areas with thin soils overlying bedrock and the quantity and distribution of massive ground ice. An open access data-portal for the pedon data set and the GIS-data sets is available online at http://bolin.su.se/data/ncscd/. The NCSCDv2 data set has a digital object identifier

show abstract

“…Peatlands currently represent a major global carbon sink sensitive to climate change, although the effect of future warming on the fate of stored carbon (C) is largely unknown (Gorham 1991;Bubier and Moore 1994;Tarnocai and Stolbovoy 2006;Heijmans et al 2008). Characterizing peatland uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and loss of stored C (as CO 2 and methane [CH 4 ]) is notoriously difficult due to the spatial and temporal variability of gas fluxes, the methodological challenges of measuring surface fluxes, the multi-faceted interactions between many environmental drivers that influence trace gas emission (e.g., temperature, water saturation, peat oxygen content, substrate availability), and the remote nature of many high latitude peatlands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intermediate-scale community-level flux of CO2 and CH4 in a Minnesota peatland: putting the SPRUCE project in a global context

Hanson

Gill

et al. 2016

Biogeochemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Peatland measurements of CO 2 and CH 4 flux were obtained at scales appropriate to the in situ biological community below the tree layer to demonstrate representativeness of the spruce and peatland responses under climatic and environmental change (SPRUCE) experiment. Surface flux measurements were made using dual open-path analyzers over an area of 1.13 m 2 in daylight and dark conditions along with associated peat temperatures, water table height, hummock moisture, atmospheric pressure and incident radiation data. Observations from August 2011 through December 2014 demonstrated seasonal trends correlated with temperature as the dominant apparent driving variable. The S1-Bog for the SPRUCE study was found to be representative of temperate peatlands in terms of CO 2 and CH 4 flux. Maximum net CO 2 flux in midsummer showed similar rates of C uptake and loss: daytime surface uptake was -5 to -6 lmol m -2 s -1 and dark period loss rates were 4-5 lmol m -2 s -1 (positive values are carbon lost to the atmosphere). Maximum midsummer CH 4 -C flux ranged from 0.4 to 0.5 lmol m -2 s -1 and was a factor of 10 lower than dark CO 2 -C efflux rates. Midwinter conditions produced near-zero flux for both CO 2 and CH 4 with frozen surfaces. Integrating temperaturedependent models across annual periods showed dark CO 2 -C and CH 4 -C flux to be 894 ± 34 and 16 ± 2 gC m -2 y -1 , respectively. Net ecosystem exchange of carbon from the shrub-forb-Sphagnummicrobial community (excluding tree contributions) ranged from -3.1 gCO 2 -C m -2 y

show abstract

Chapter 2 Northern Peatlands: their characteristics, development and sensitivity to climate change

Cited by 53 publications

References 35 publications

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

A new data set for estimating organic carbon storage to 3 m depth in soils of the northern circumpolar permafrost region

Intermediate-scale community-level flux of CO2 and CH4 in a Minnesota peatland: putting the SPRUCE project in a global context

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About