Peatland initiation and carbon accumulation in the Falkland Islands

Payne, Richard J.; Ring-Hrubesh, Fin; Rush, Graham; Sloan, Tom; Evans, Chris; Mauquoy, Dmitri

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.022

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An ideal location in which to test the relative influence of erosion, mass movement and hydrology is the Falkland Islands. Although intensively grazed, a significant proportion of Falkland Island blanket peat initiated pre‐Holocene (Payne et al., 2019), is highly dissected and in optical images and in the field shows ample evidence of established erosion and mass movement that must predate human occupation of the islands.…”

Section: Basis For a New Hydrologic Landscape Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time, Hydrologic Landscape, and the Long‐Term Storage of Peatland Carbon in Sedimentary Basins

Large

Marshall

Jochmann³

et al. 2021

JGR Earth Surface

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

• To understand how peat enters long term carbon storage requires consideration of peat accumulation over periods of 10 5 to 10 6 years. • Peat accumulation over these timeframes requires sustained storage of water above depositional base level • This has profound implications for our understanding of peat in the earth system and the interpretation of the geological record Accepted Article This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

show abstract

Section: Basis For a New Hydrologic Landscape Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time, Hydrologic Landscape, and the Long‐Term Storage of Peatland Carbon in Sedimentary Basins

Large

Marshall

Jochmann³

et al. 2021

JGR Earth Surface

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, many sub-Antarctic islands support widespread communities of peat-forming C 3 tussock grasses (Poa flabellata), which provide important habitat and shelter for breeding marine animals such as seals and seabirds. Peat records formed by P. flabellata present a promising avenue for paleoclimate reconstructions similar to other peatland vegetation types in midlatitudes and high latitudes (Amesbury et al, 2015;Chambers et al, 2012;Pendall et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Modern calibration of Poa flabellata (tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Terrestrial paleoclimate records are rare in the South Atlantic, limiting opportunities to provide a prehistoric context for current global changes. The tussock grass, Poa flabellata, grows abundantly along the coasts of the Falkland Islands and other subantarctic islands. It forms extensive peat records, providing a promising opportunity to reconstruct high-resolution regional climate records. The isotopic composition of leaf and root tissues deposited in these peats has the potential to record variation in precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity over time, but these relationships are unknown for P. flabellata. Here, we measured the isotopic composition of P. flabellata and precipitation and explore relationships with seasonal temperature and humidity variations across four study locations in the Falkland Islands. We reveal that inter-seasonal differences in carbon and oxygen stable isotopes of leaf α-cellulose of living P. flabellata correlated with monthly mean temperature and relative humidity. The carbon isotope composition of leaf α-cellulose (δ13Cleaf) records the balance of CO2 supply through stomata and the demand by photosynthesis. The positive correlation between δ13Cleaf and temperature and negative correlation between δ13Cleaf and relative humidity suggest that photosynthetic demand for CO2 relative to stomatal supply is enhanced when conditions are warm and dry. Further, the positive correlation between δ13Cleaf and δ18Oleaf (r=0.88; p<0.001; n=24) indicates that stomatal closure during warm dry periods explains seasonal variation in δ13Cleaf. We observed significant differences between winter and summer seasons for both δ18Oleaf and δ13Cleaf and among study locations for δ18Oleaf but not δ13Cleaf. δ18O values of monthly composite precipitation were similar between seasons and among study locations, yet characteristic of the latitudinal origin of storm tracks and seasonal winds. The weak correlation between δ18O in monthly composite precipitation and δ18Oleaf further suggests that relative humidity is the main driver of the δ18Oleaf. The oxygen isotopes in root α-cellulose did not reflect, or only partially reflected (at one study location), the δ18O in precipitation. Overall, this study supports the use of peat records formed by P. flabellata to fill a significant gap in our knowledge of the long-term trends in Southern Hemisphere climate dynamics.

show abstract

“…Peat records formed by P. flabellata present a promising avenue for paleoclimate reconstructions; peatland vegetation has been used to reconstruct hydrological change and temperature in mid-to high latitudes (Amesbury et al, 2015;Chambers 45 et al, 2012;Pendall et al, 2001). P. flabellata grasslands in the South Atlantic accumulate substantial amounts of peat (Smith and Clymo, 1984), and have the highest carbon accumulation rates of any peatland globally (Payne et al, 2019). Endemic to the South Atlantic, P. flabellata only occurs on Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, Gough Island, and South Georgia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Smith and Prince, 1985) established radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates for a P. flabellata pedestal and estimated an age of 250 to 330 years. P. flabellata grass forms extensive peat deposits of up to 13.3-m deep, with carbon accumulation rates of 139 g C m -2 yr -1 (Payne et al, 2019;Smith and Clymo, 1984), far greater than peatlands of similar latitude in the Northern Hemisphere (18.6 g C m -2 yr -1 ), the tropics 60 (12.8 g C m -2 yr -1 ) or Patagonia (22 g C m -2 yr -1 ) (Yu et al, 2010). Subfossil P. flabellata leaves are abundant in these peats ( Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Modern calibration of Poa flabellata (Tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic

Groff¹,

Williams²,

Gill³

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Terrestrial paleoclimate records are rare in the South Atlantic, limiting opportunities to provide a prehistoric context for current global changes. The tussock grass, Poa flabellata, grows abundantly along the coasts of the Falkland Islands and other sub-Antarctic islands. It forms extensive peat records, providing a promising opportunity to reconstruct high-resolution regional climate records. The isotopic composition of leaf and root tissues deposited in these peats has the potential to record variation in precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity over time, but these relationships are unknown for P. flabellata. Here, we investigate the isotopic composition of P. flabellata plants and precipitation and explore seasonal relationships with temperature and humidity across 4 study locations in the Falkland Islands. We reveal that inter-seasonal differences in carbon and oxygen stable isotopes of leaf &#945;-cellulose of living P. flabellata significantly correlated with monthly mean temperature and relative humidity. The carbon isotope composition of leaf &#945;-cellulose (&#948;13Cleaf) records the balance of CO2 supply through stomata and the demand by photosynthesis. The positive correlation between &#948;13Cleaf and temperature and negative correlation between between &#948;13Cleaf and relative humidity suggest that photosynthetic demand for CO2 relative to stomatal supply is enhanced when conditions are warm and dry. Further, the positive correlation between &#948;13Cleaf and &#948;18Oleaf (r&#8201;=&#8201;0.88, p&#8201;<&#8201;0.001, n&#8201;=&#8201;24) indicates that stomatal closure during warm dry periods explain seasonal variation in &#948;13Cleaf. We observed significant differences between winter and summer seasons for both &#948;18Oleaf and &#948;13Cleaf, and among study locations for &#948;18Oleaf, but not &#948;13Cleaf. &#948;18O values of monthly composite precipitation did not differ between seasons or among study locations, yet is characteristic of the latitudinal origin of storm tracks and seasonal winds. The weak correlation between &#948;18O in monthly composite precipitation and &#948;18Oleaf further suggests that relative humidity is the main driver of the &#948;18Oleaf. The oxygen isotopes in root &#945;-cellulose did not reflect, or only partially reflected (at one study location), the &#948;18O in precipitation. Overall, this study supports the use of peat records formed by P. flabellata to fill in a significant gap in our knowledge of the long-term trends in Southern Hemisphere climate dynamics.

show abstract

Peatland initiation and carbon accumulation in the Falkland Islands

Cited by 21 publications

References 33 publications

Time, Hydrologic Landscape, and the Long‐Term Storage of Peatland Carbon in Sedimentary Basins

Time, Hydrologic Landscape, and the Long‐Term Storage of Peatland Carbon in Sedimentary Basins

Modern calibration of <i>Poa flabellata</i> (tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic

Modern calibration of <i>Poa flabellata</i> (Tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Peatland initiation and carbon accumulation in the Falkland Islands

Cited by 21 publications

References 33 publications

Time, Hydrologic Landscape, and the Long‐Term Storage of Peatland Carbon in Sedimentary Basins

Time, Hydrologic Landscape, and the Long‐Term Storage of Peatland Carbon in Sedimentary Basins

Modern calibration of &lt;i&gt;Poa flabellata&lt;/i&gt; (tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic

Modern calibration of &lt;i&gt;Poa flabellata&lt;/i&gt; (Tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Modern calibration of <i>Poa flabellata</i> (tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic

Modern calibration of <i>Poa flabellata</i> (Tussac grass) as a new paleoclimate proxy in the South Atlantic