Predicting peatland carbon fluxes from non‐destructive plant traits

Goud, Ellie M.; Moore, Tim R.; Roulet, Nigel T.

doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12891

Cited by 37 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(116 reference statements)

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“…Sedges also contribute to net C uptake maintenance, especially under warming, but their root exudates and litter facilitate microbial activity by providing liable and less aromatic C (Crow and Wieder 2005;Chanton et al 2008;Robroek et al 2016; Del Giudice and Lindo 2017), thereby supporting methanogenesis (Bubier et al 1995;Waddington, Roulet, and Swanson 1996;Bellisario et al 1999;Greenup et al 2000;Strom et al 2003;Hornibrook 2009;Lai 2009;Noyce et al 2014;Vanselow-Algan et al 2015;Lazcano et al 2020) and respiration (Werth and Kuzyakov 2008;Jassey et al 2018;Gavazov et al 2018;Lazcano et al 2020). Relatively higher CH 4 emissions have corresponded to more sedge cover or biomass, particularly under wet conditions, in field investigations (Shannon and White 1994;Bubier et al 1995;Frenzel and Rudolph 1998;Bellisario et al 1999;Greenup et al 2000;Strom and Christensen 2007;Levy et al 2012;Miao et al 2012;Frenzel and Karofeld 2000;McNamara et al 2008;Eriksson, Oquist, and Nilsson 2010;Moore et al 2011;Gray et al 2013;Noyce et al 2014;Jordan et al 2016;Goud et al 2017;Lazcano et al 2020), restoration efforts (Tuittila et al 2000a;Marinier, Glatzel, and Moore 2004;…”

Section: Indirect Effects On Decomposition Via Plant-microbe Interactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of water level alteration on carbon cycling in peatlands

Zhong

Jiang

Middleton

2020

Ecosyst Health Sustain

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Globally, peatlands play an important role in the carbon (C) cycle. High water level is a key factor in maintaining C storage in peatlands, but water levels are vulnerable to climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. This review examines literature related to the effects of water level alteration on C cycling in peatlands to summarize new ideas and uncertainties emerging in this field. Peatland ecosystems maintain their function by altering plant community structure to adapt to changing water levels. Regarding primary production, woody plants are more productive in unflooded, well-aerated conditions, while Sphagnum mosses are more productive in wetter conditions. The responses of sedges to water level alteration are species-specific. While peat decomposition is faster in unflooded, well aerated conditions, increased plant production may counteract the C loss induced by increased ecosystem respiration (ER) for a period of time. In contrast, rising water table maintains anaerobic conditions and enhances the role of the peatland as a C sink. Nevertheless, changes in DOC flux during water level fluctuation is complicated and depends on the interactions of flooding with environment. Notably, vegetation also plays a role in C flux but particular species vary in their ability to sequester and transport C. Bog ecosystems have a greater resilience to water level alteration than fens, due to differences in biogeochemical responses to hydrology. The full understanding of the role of peatlands in global C cycling deserves much more study due to uncertainties of vegetation feedbacks, peat-water interactions, microbial mediation of vegetation, wildfire, and functional responses after hydrologic restoration.

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Section: Indirect Effects On Decomposition Via Plant-microbe Interactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of water level alteration on carbon cycling in peatlands

Zhong

Jiang

Middleton

2020

Ecosyst Health Sustain

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“…Lowered water tables and increased shrub dominance have been associated with decreased annual gross primary productivity (GPP) relative to elevated water tables [22,26]. Studies have also demonstrated a link between the graminoid cover and methane emissions rates from wetland ecosystems [27,28]. Given their importance in regulating ecosystem function, mapping the distribution of PFTs could be an important element of predicting ecosystem responses to environmental change [29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Boreal Peatland Plant Composition and Species Diversity with Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

et al. 2019

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Peatlands, which account for approximately 15% of land surface across the arctic and boreal regions of the globe, are experiencing a range of ecological impacts as a result of climate change. Factors that include altered hydrology resulting from drought and permafrost thaw, rising temperatures, and elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been shown to cause plant community compositional changes. Shifts in plant composition affect the productivity, species diversity, and carbon cycling of peatlands. We used hyperspectral remote sensing to characterize the response of boreal peatland plant composition and species diversity to warming, hydrologic change, and elevated CO2. Hyperspectral remote sensing techniques offer the ability to complete landscape-scale analyses of ecological responses to climate disturbance when paired with plot-level measurements that link ecosystem biophysical properties with spectral reflectance signatures. Working within two large ecosystem manipulation experiments, we examined climate controls on composition and diversity in two types of common boreal peatlands: a nutrient rich fen located at the Alaska Peatland Experiment (APEX) in central Alaska, and an ombrotrophic bog located in northern Minnesota at the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment. We found a strong effect of plant functional cover on spectral reflectance characteristics. We also found a positive relationship between species diversity and spectral variation at the APEX field site, which is consistent with other recently published findings. Based on the results of our field study, we performed a supervised land cover classification analysis on an aerial hyperspectral dataset to map peatland plant functional types (PFTs) across an area encompassing a range of different plant communities. Our results underscore recent advances in the application of remote sensing measurements to ecological research, particularly in far northern ecosystems.

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“…Temperature and hydrology are strong controls on peatland community composition, which contributes to the carbon sequestration and storage potential of peatlands (Breeuwer et al, 2009;Dieleman et al, 2015;Goud, Moore, & Roulet, 2017;Olefeldt et al, 2017;Radu & Duval, 2018;Ward, Bardgett, McNamara, & Ostle, 2009;Weltzin et al, 2000). However, exactly how changes in climate affect vegetation community composition and function are likely to be different in bogs and fens, owing to differences in water residence time and nutrient status.…”

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confidence: 99%

The response of boreal peatland community composition and NDVI to hydrologic change, warming, and elevated carbon dioxide

McPartland

Kane

Falkowski

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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Widespread changes in arctic and boreal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values captured by satellite platforms indicate that northern ecosystems are experiencing rapid ecological change in response to climate warming. Increasing temperatures and altered hydrology are driving shifts in ecosystem biophysical properties that, observed by satellites, manifest as long‐term changes in regional NDVI. In an effort to examine the underlying ecological drivers of these changes, we used field‐scale remote sensing of NDVI to track peatland vegetation in experiments that manipulated hydrology, temperature, and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. In addition to NDVI, we measured percent cover by species and leaf area index (LAI). We monitored two peatland types broadly representative of the boreal region. One site was a rich fen located near Fairbanks, Alaska, at the Alaska Peatland Experiment (APEX), and the second site was a nutrient‐poor bog located in Northern Minnesota within the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment. We found that NDVI decreased with long‐term reductions in soil moisture at the APEX site, coincident with a decrease in photosynthetic leaf area and the relative abundance of sedges. We observed increasing NDVI with elevated temperature at the SPRUCE site, associated with an increase in the relative abundance of shrubs and a decrease in forb cover. Warming treatments at the SPRUCE site also led to increases in the LAI of the shrub layer. We found no strong effects of elevated CO2 on community composition. Our findings support recent studies suggesting that changes in NDVI observed from satellite platforms may be the result of changes in community composition and ecosystem structure in response to climate warming.

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Predicting peatland carbon fluxes from non‐destructive plant traits

Cited by 37 publications

References 58 publications

Effects of water level alteration on carbon cycling in peatlands

Effects of water level alteration on carbon cycling in peatlands

Characterizing Boreal Peatland Plant Composition and Species Diversity with Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

The response of boreal peatland community composition and NDVI to hydrologic change, warming, and elevated carbon dioxide

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