Emissions of methane from northern peatlands: a review of management impacts and implications for future management options

Abdalla, Mohamed; Hastings, Astley; Truu, Jaak; Espenberg, Mikk; Mander, Ülo; Smith, Pete

doi:10.1002/ece3.2469

Cited by 156 publications

(189 citation statements)

References 195 publications

(217 reference statements)

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“…Our annual NEE‐CH 4 over the natural forest is similar to emissions from northern bogs (average = 9.5 g m −2 year −1 ) and around two times lower than CH 4 emissions from northern fens (average = 20.5 g m −2 year −1 ; Abdalla et al, ). Higher temperatures in tropical peatlands favor greater humification, selective removal of reactive labile carbohydrates, and accumulation of aromatic content leading to a highly recalcitrant residual peat (Brady, ; Hodgkins et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Impact of forest plantation on methane emissions from tropical peatland

Deshmukh¹,

Julius²,

Evans

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Tropical peatlands are a known source of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere, but their contribution to atmospheric CH4 is poorly constrained. Since the 1980s, extensive areas of the peatlands in Southeast Asia have experienced land‐cover change to smallholder agriculture and forest plantations. This land‐cover change generally involves lowering of groundwater level (GWL), as well as modification of vegetation type, both of which potentially influence CH4 emissions. We measured CH4 exchanges at the landscape scale using eddy covariance towers over two land‐cover types in tropical peatland in Sumatra, Indonesia: (a) a natural forest and (b) an Acacia crassicarpa plantation. Annual CH4 exchanges over the natural forest (9.1 ± 0.9 g CH4 m−2 year−1) were around twice as high as those of the Acacia plantation (4.7 ± 1.5 g CH4 m−2 year−1). Results highlight that tropical peatlands are significant CH4 sources, and probably have a greater impact on global atmospheric CH4 concentrations than previously thought. Observations showed a clear diurnal variation in CH4 exchange over the natural forest where the GWL was higher than 40 cm below the ground surface. The diurnal variation in CH4 exchanges was strongly correlated with associated changes in the canopy conductance to water vapor, photosynthetic photon flux density, vapor pressure deficit, and air temperature. The absence of a comparable diurnal pattern in CH4 exchange over the Acacia plantation may be the result of the GWL being consistently below the root zone. Our results, which are among the first eddy covariance CH4 exchange data reported for any tropical peatland, should help to reduce the uncertainty in the estimation of CH4 emissions from a globally important ecosystem, provide a more complete estimate of the impact of land‐cover change on tropical peat, and develop science‐based peatland management practices that help to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Impact of forest plantation on methane emissions from tropical peatland

Deshmukh¹,

Julius²,

Evans

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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“…Only Herbst et al (2013) reported an annual CH 4 flux from a restored wetland in Denmark that was lower than in this study (9 to 13 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 ). Our annual CH 4 flux at 17 ± 1.0 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 was comparable to an average natural temperate wetland CH 4 flux, which is typically around 15 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 (Abdalla et al, 2016;Fortuniak et al, 2017;Nicolini et al, 2013;Turetsky et al, 2014). The CH 4 fluxes from a number of temperate and tropical pristine wetlands exceeded the CH 4 fluxes reported in this study, including emissions from marshes in the southwestern US (130 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 ; Whiting and Chanton, 2001), tropical wetlands in Costa Rica (82 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 ; Nahlik and Mitsch, 2010), marshes in the midwestern US (50 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 , Koh et al, 2009), all three studies based on chamber measurements, and an ombrotrophic bog in New Zealand (29 and 21 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 based on EC measurements; Goodrich et al, 2015).…”

Section: Ch 4 Exchange 441 Annual and Seasonal Ch 4 Budgetssupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Peatlands are the most widespread of all wetland types in the world, representing 50 to 70 % of global wetlands (Roulet, 2000;Yu et al, 2010). Peatlands around the world sequester around 50 g CO 2 -C m −2 yr −1 Christensen et al, 2012;Humphreys et al, 2014;McVeigh et al, 2014;Peichl et al, 2014;Pelletier et al, 2015) and emit around 12 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 (Abdalla et al, 2016;Brown et al, 2014;Jackowicz-Korczynski et al, 2010;Lai et al, 2014;Urbanová et al, 2013). Furthermore, it has been shown that it is crucial to include peatlands in the modelling and analysis of the global C cycle (Frolking et al, 2013;Kleinen et al, 2010;Wania et al, 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual greenhouse gas budget for a bog ecosystem undergoing restoration by rewetting

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Many peatlands have been drained and harvested for peat mining, agriculture, and other purposes, which has turned them from carbon (C) sinks into C emitters. Rewetting of disturbed peatlands facilitates their ecological recovery and may help them revert to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sinks. However, rewetting may also cause substantial emissions of the more potent greenhouse gas (GHG) methane (CH 4 ). Our knowledge of the exchange of CO 2 and CH 4 following rewetting during restoration of disturbed peatlands is currently limited. This study quantifies annual fluxes of CO 2 and CH 4 in a disturbed and rewetted area located in the Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area in Delta, BC, Canada. Burns Bog is recognized as the largest raised bog ecosystem on North America's west coast. Burns Bog was substantially reduced in size and degraded by peat mining and agriculture. Since 2005, the bog has been declared a conservancy area, with restoration efforts focusing on rewetting disturbed ecosystems to recover Sphagnum and suppress fires. Using the eddy covariance (EC) technique, we measured year-round (16 June 2015 to 15 June 2016) turbulent fluxes of CO 2 and CH 4 from a tower platform in an area rewetted for the last 8 years. The study area, dominated by sedges and Sphagnum, experienced a varying water table position that ranged between 7.7 (inundation) and −26.5 cm from the surface during the study year. The annual CO 2 budget of the rewetted area was −179 ± 26.2 g CO 2 -C m −2 yr −1 (CO 2 sink) and the annual CH 4 budget was 17 ± 1.0 g CH 4 -C m −2 yr −1 (CH 4 source). Gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) exceeded ecosystem respiration (R e ) during summer months (June-August), causing a net CO 2 uptake. In summer, high CH 4 emissions (121 mg CH 4 -C m −2 day −1 ) were measured. In winter (December-February), while roughly equal magnitudes of GEP and R e made the study area CO 2 neutral, very low CH 4 emissions (9 mg CH 4 -C m −2 day −1 ) were observed. The key environmental factors controlling the seasonality of these exchanges were downwelling photosynthetically active radiation and 5 cm soil temperature. It appears that the high water table caused by ditch blocking suppressed R e . With low temperatures in winter, CH 4 emissions were more suppressed than R e . Annual net GHG flux from CO 2 and CH 4 expressed in terms of CO 2 equivalents (CO 2 eq.) during the study period totalled −22 ± 103.1 g CO 2 eq. m −2 yr −1 (net CO 2 eq. sink) and 1248 ± 147.6 g CO 2 eq. m −2 yr −1 (net CO 2 eq. source) by using 100-and 20-year global warming potential values, respectively. Consequently, the ecosystem was almost CO 2 eq. neutral during the study period expressed on a 100-year time horizon but was a significant CO 2 eq. source on a 20-year time horizon.

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“…Similar to other studies, we observed, the main or combined effects of WT position (Moore & Knowles, 1989;Turetsky et al, 2008), peat temperature (Moore et al, 2011;Turetsky et al, 2008), and vegetation cover (Abdalla et al, 2016;Bubier et al, 1995;Moore et al, 2011) as controls on CH 4 fluxes. In contrast, the fen exhibited minimal impacts of the road on CH 4 fluxes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Road Crossings Increase Methane Emissions From Adjacent Peatland

Saraswati

Strack

2019

JGR Biogeosciences

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We conducted a multi-year study in two boreal peatlands to determine the impacts of resource access roads on methane (CH 4 ) emission from adjacent peatland. Data were collected from transects aligned perpendicular to, and on both sides of two roads, one cutting through a bog and one cutting through a fen and from reference areas at each peatland. During the growing seasons of 2016 and 2017, we measured CH 4 flux, water table, and peat temperature every second week. At the bog, the road associated impacts (changes to water table, peat temperature, and vegetation cover) were visible up to 20 m on both sides of the road (disturbed areas) with CH 4 emission from disturbed areas being significantly higher compared to the reference areas in both years. There were no significant differences in CH 4 emissions from disturbed areas compared to reference areas at the fen due to the limited hydrologic impact of the road crossing at this site. Bog plots located upstream of the road on transects located at >20 m from culverts and closer to the road emitted significantly more CH 4 (124.6-mg CH 4 ·m −2 ·day −1 ) than other disturbed (10.2 mg CH 4 ·m −2 ·day -1 ) and reference areas (0.7-mg CH 4 ·m −2 ·day −1 ) due to shallower water table and warmer peat temperature. The road induced CH 4 emissions (90.8 and 212.2 kg CH 4 /year for each kilometer of road, in 2016 and 2017, respectively) indicated that road construction across peatlands enhances CH 4 emissions from these ecosystems, creating an additional source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas.Plain Language Summary Construction of resource access roads is common across the boreal region of Canada, and significant numbers of these roads are passing through peatlands. Peatlands are natural sources of methane, which is one of the important greenhouse gases. To determine the impacts of resource access roads on methane emission from the adjacent peatland, we conducted a study in two boreal forested peatlands (a bog and a fen). Our results showed that, at the bog, methane emission from disturbed areas were significantly higher compared to the reference areas. Similarly, the changes to the water table, peat temperature, and vegetation cover were visible up to 20 m on both sides of the road. In contrast, we did not find differences in methane emissions from disturbed areas compared to reference areas at the fen due to the limited hydrologic impact of the road crossing at this site. The increased methane emission from road adjacent areas indicates that road construction across peatlands enhances methane emissions from these ecosystems, creating an additional source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas. However, our study showed that aligning roads parallel to water flow when and where possible, and adequate culvert placement can help to minimize induced methane emissions.

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Emissions of methane from northern peatlands: a review of management impacts and implications for future management options

Cited by 156 publications

References 195 publications

Impact of forest plantation on methane emissions from tropical peatland

Impact of forest plantation on methane emissions from tropical peatland

Annual greenhouse gas budget for a bog ecosystem undergoing restoration by rewetting

Road Crossings Increase Methane Emissions From Adjacent Peatland

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