Methane emissions in two drained peat agro-ecosystems with high and low agricultural intensity

Schrier-Uijl, A.P.; Kroon, P.S.; Leffelaar, P.A.; Huissteden, J. van; Berendse, F.; Veenendaal, E.M.

doi:10.1007/s11104-009-0180-1

Cited by 58 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Firstly, almost all studies where comparisons were made recorded higher CH4 emissions from drainage ditches than from adjacent peatlands (e.g. Roulet and Moore, 1995;Sundh et al, 2000;Minkinnen and Laine, 2006;Schrier-Uijl et al, 2010;Teh et al, 2011). In some cases ditches were found to act as the source of most or all CH4 emissions from the site.…”

Section: On-site Methane Emissions From Ditchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amongst the studies collated, reported values of FracDITCH ranged from 0.02 in drained tropical peatlands (Jauhianen and Silvennoinen, 2012) and 0.025 in forestry drained mires (e.g. Roulet and Moore, 1995;Minkinnen and Laine, 2006;Sirin et al, 2013) to over 0.2 in some grasslands (Van den Pol-Van Dasselaar, 1999;Schrier-Uijl et al, 2010;Vermaat et al, 2011), although such high values appear unusual outside the Netherlands, and indicative values of 0.05 were suggested for grasslands and extraction sites in the IPCC Wetland Supplement (IPPC, 2014a). Differences in drainage ditch density between categories reflect differences in the characteristics of the peat; for example, fibrous tropical peatlands can be effectively drained by a few large but widely spaced canals, whereas highly humified blanket bogs require a much higher density of smaller ditches to effectively lower water tables (Evans et al, 2014b).…”

Section: On-site Methane Emissions From Ditchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Article (refereed) -postprintEvans, Chris D.; Renou-Wilson, Flo; Strack, Maria. 2016. The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and rewetted peatlands [in special issue: Carbon cycling in aquatic ecosystems] Aquatic Sciences, 78 (3). 573-590. 10.1007/s00027-015-0447-y Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner.The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands AbstractAccounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in managed ecosystems has generally focused on direct land-atmosphere fluxes, but in peatlands a significant proportion of total carbon loss occurs via fluvial transport. This study considers the composition of this 'waterborne carbon' flux, its potential contribution to GHG emissions, and the extent to which it may change in response to land-management. The work describes, and builds on, a methodology to account for major components of these emissions developed for the 2013 Wetland Supplement of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We identify two major components of GHG emissions from waterbodies draining organic soil: i) 'on site' emissions of methane (and to a lesser extent CO2) from drainage ditches located within the peatland; and ii) 'off site' emissions of CO2 resulting from downstream oxidation of dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC) within the aquatic system. Methane emissions from ditches were found to be large in many cases (mean 60 g CH4 m -2 yr -1 based on all reported values), countering the view that methane emissions cease following wetland drainage. Emissions were greatest from ditches in intensive agricultural peatlands, but data were sparse and showed high variability. For DOC, the magnitude of the natural flux varied strongly with latitude, from 5 g C m -2 yr -1 in northern boreal peatlands to 60 g C m -2 yr -1 in tropical peatlands. Available data suggest that DOC fluxes increase by around 60% following drainage, and that this increase may be reversed in the longer-term through re-wetting, although variability between studies was high, especially in relation to re-wetting response. Evidence regarding the fate of DOC is complex and inconclusive, but overall suggests that the majority of DOC exported from peatlands is converted to CO2 through photo-and/or bio-degradation in rivers, standing waters and oceans. The contribution of POC export to GHG emissions is even more uncertain, but we estimate that over half of exported POC may eventually be converted to CO2. Although POC fluxes are normally small, they can become very large when bare peat surfaces are exposed to fluvial erosion. Overall, we estimate that waterborne carbon emissions may contribute about 1 to 4 t CO2-eq ha -1 yr -1 of additional GHG emissions from drained peatlands. For a number of worked examples this repres...

show abstract

Section: On-site Methane Emissions From Ditchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: On-site Methane Emissions From Ditchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Following the good practice guidance approach of the IPCC at Tier 1 and Tier 2 level, for calculation of the background emission a constant value for the emission should be used in each climatic zone. However, previous experimental and simulation studies on N 2 O emission from managed peat soil point towards increasing N 2 O emissions with increasing N input rates and groundwater levels (Schrier-Uijl et al 2010;Velthof and Oenema 1995;Velthof et al 1996a;Langeveld et al 1997), which indicates that in fact the background emission may be related to groundwater level. Moreover, considering that groundwater level are deepest and N inputs are highest in summer, a seasonal fluctuation with relatively high net and background emissions during summer is expected.…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

Nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized and unfertilized grasslands on peat soil

Beek

Pleijter

Kuikman

2010

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from managed and grazed grasslands on peat soils are amongst the highest emissions in the world per unit of surface of agriculturally managed soil. According to the IPCC methodology, the direct N 2 O emissions from managed organic soils is the sum of N 2 O emissions derived from N input, including fertilizers, urine and dung of grazing cattle, and a constant 'background' N 2 O emission from decomposition of organic matter that depends on agro-climatic zone. In this paper we questioned the constant nature of this background emission from peat soils by monitoring N 2 O emissions, groundwater levels, N inputs and soil NO 3 --N contents from 4 grazed and fertilized grassland fields on managed organic peat soil. Two fields had a relatively low groundwater level ('dry' fields) and two fields had a relatively high groundwater level ('wet' fields). To measure the background N 2 O emission, unfertilized sub-plots were installed in each field. Measurements were performed monthly and after selected management events for 2 years (2008)(2009)). On the managed fields average cumulative emission equaled 21 ± 2 kg N ha -1 y -1 for the 'dry' fields and 14 ± 3 kg N ha -1 y -1 for the 'wet' fields. On the unfertilized sub-plots emissions equaled 4 ± 0.6 kg N ha -1 y -1 for the 'dry' fields and 1 ± 0.7 kg N ha -1 y -1 for the 'wet' fields, which is below the currently used estimates. Background emissions were closely correlated with groundwater level (R 2 = 0.73) and accounted for approximately 22% of the cumulative N 2 O emission for the dry fields and for approximately 10% of the cumulative N 2 O emissions from the wet fields. The results of this study demonstrate that the accuracy of estimating direct N 2 O emissions from peat soils can be improved by approximately 20% by applying a background emission of N 2 O that depends on annual average groundwater level rather than applying a constant value.

show abstract

“…Within the set of managed peatlands, greenhouse gas emissions from deeply-drained peatlands such as cropland or intensively-used pastureland are especially large (Veenendaal et al 2007;Drösler et al 2011;Elsgaard et al 2012;Leiber-Sauheitl et al 2013). Greenhouse gas emissions can stay high at such sites even when management intensity is moderated by nature conservancy measures (Best and Jacobs 1997;Schrier-Uijl et al 2010;Hahn-Schöfl et al 2011). Intensively-used peatlands are more common in lowlands than in uplands due to better accessibility and suitability for high-intensity agriculture.…”

Section: Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Impacts—Terrestrial Ecosystems

Hölzel

Hickler

Kutzbach

et al. 2016

North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The chapter starts with a discussion of general patterns and processes in terrestrial ecosystems, including the impacts of climate change in relation to productivity, phenology, trophic matches and mismatches, range shifts and biodiversity. Climate impacts on specific ecosystem types-forests, grasslands, heathlands, and mires and peatlands-are then discussed in detail. The chapter concludes by discussing links between changes in inland ecosystems and the wider North Sea system. Future climate change is likely to increase net primary productivity in the North Sea region due to warmer conditions and longer growing seasons, at least if summer precipitation does not decrease as strongly as projected in some of the more extreme climate scenarios. The effects of total carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems are highly uncertain, due to the inherent complexity of the processes involved. For moderate climate change, land use effects are often more important drivers of total ecosystem carbon accumulation than climate change. Across a wide range of organism groups, range expansions to higher latitudes and altitudes and changes in phenology have occurred in response to recent climate change. For the range expansions, some studies suggest substantial differences between organism groups. Habitat specialists with restricted ranges have generally responded very little or even shown range contractions. Many of already threatened species could be particularly vulnerable to climate change. Overall, effects of recent climate change on terrestrial ecosystems within the North Sea region are still limited.

show abstract

Methane emissions in two drained peat agro-ecosystems with high and low agricultural intensity

Cited by 58 publications

References 37 publications

The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands

The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands

Nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized and unfertilized grasslands on peat soil

Environmental Impacts—Terrestrial Ecosystems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About