Recent Rates of Carbon Accumulation in Montane Fens of Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.A.

Drexler, Judith Z.; Fuller, Christopher C.; Orlando, James L.; Moore, Peggy E.

doi:10.1657/aaar0015-002

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Peak activity of 137 Cs can usually be clearly identified in a soil profile. If peaks are indistinct or nonexistent and/or if 137 Cs inventories are depleted, this strongly suggests that 137 Cs has been mobile in the core profile, making it unacceptable for dating (Carey et al, ; Drexler et al, ; Oldfield et al, ). In this study 137 Cs activity data were only deemed acceptable if distinct peaks in activity were found for each core.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation and Uncertainty of Recent Carbon Accumulation and Vertical Accretion in Drained and Undrained Forested Peatlands of the Southeastern USA

et al. 2017

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The purpose of this study was to determine how drainage impacts carbon densities and recent rates (past 50 years) of vertical accretion and carbon accumulation in southeastern forested peatlands. We compared these parameters in drained maple‐gum (MAPL), Atlantic white cedar (CDR), and pocosin (POC) communities in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDS) of Virginia/North Carolina and in an intact (undrained) CDR swamp in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (AR) of North Carolina. Peat cores were analyzed for bulk density, percent organic carbon, and 137Cs and 210Pb. An uncertainty analysis of both 137Cs and 210Pb approaches was used to constrain error at least partially related to mobility of both radioisotopes. GDS peats had lower porosities (89.6% (SD = 1.71) versus 95.3% (0.18)) and higher carbon densities (0.082 (0.021) versus 0.037 (0.009) g C cm−3) than AR. Vertical accretion rates (0.10–0.56 cm yr−1) were used to estimate a time period of ~84–362 years for reestablishment of peat lost during the 2011 Lateral West fire at the GDS. Carbon accumulation rates ranged from 51 to 389 g C m−2 yr−1 for all sites. In the drained (GDS) versus intact (AR) CDR sites, carbon accumulation rates were similar with 137Cs (87GDS versus 92AR g C m−2 yr−1) and somewhat less at the GDS than AR as determined with 210Pb (111GDS versus 159AR g C m−2 yr−1). Heightened productivity and high polyphenol content of peat may be responsible for similar rates of carbon accumulation in both drained and intact CDR peatlands.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation and Uncertainty of Recent Carbon Accumulation and Vertical Accretion in Drained and Undrained Forested Peatlands of the Southeastern USA

et al. 2017

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“…Because of their remote location, peatlands in mountains are much less studied than their lowland counterparts and only a few studies have investigated their carbon dynamics. These studies mainly focused on gaseous carbon fluxes (Chimner & Cooper, 2003;Pullens et al, 2016) or carbon stock accumulation (Chen et al, 2014;Drexler et al, 2015), but only one mountainous site in Germany has been investigated with regard to stream organic carbon exports (Birkel et al, 2017;Broder & Biester, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peatland Contribution to Stream Organic Carbon Exports From a Montane Watershed

et al. 2019

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Mountains contain many small and fragmented peatlands within watersheds. As they are difficult to monitor, their role in the water and carbon cycle is often disregarded. This study aims to assess the stream organic carbon exports from a montane peatland and characterizes its contribution to the water chemistry in a headstream watershed. High frequency in situ monitoring of turbidity and fDOM were used to quantify respectively particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exports at the inlet and outlet of a peatland over three years in a French Pyrenean watershed (1,343 m.a.s.l.). The DOC and POC signals are both highly dynamic, characterized by numerous short peaks lasting from a few hours to a few days. Forty-six percent of the exports occurred during 9% of the time corresponding to the highest flows monitored at the outlet. Despite its small area (3%) within the watershed, the peatland contributes at least 63% of the DOC export at the outlet. The specific DOC flux ranges from 16.1 ± 0.4 to 34.6 ± 1.5 g m 2 year −1 . POC contributes 17% of the total stream organic carbon exports from the watershed. As the frequency of extreme climatic events is expected to increase in the context of climate change, further studies should be conducted to understand the evolution of underestimated mountainous peatland carbon fluxes and their implication in the carbon cycle of headwaters. Plain Language SummarySince the last glacial period, peatlands have accumulated large stocks of organic carbon. Despite representing only 3% of global continental surfaces, they store about 22% of the continental soil carbon stock. In the context of global change, peatland carbon sequestration capacity needs to be carefully monitored. In addition to greenhouse gas exchanges with the atmosphere, determining this capacity requires the quantification of aquatic organic carbon exports. Aquatic organic carbon exports have rarely been investigated at mountainous peatlands. Moreover, global change is expected to drastically modify mountain hydrology, influencing aquatic carbon exports and carbon balance of mountainous peatlands. Using high frequency in situ instrumentation, this study shows the annual quantity of aquatic organic carbon exported from a montane peatland in the French Pyrenees is in the same range as Northern lowland peatlands. These highly variable exports mainly occur during high discharge events due to snowmelt or rainfalls. Despite its restricted area, this montane peatland is the main contributor of aquatic organic carbon in the watershed. Peatlands influence headwater chemistry and further study must be conducted to monitor the evolution of these mountainous carbon stocks.

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Economic valuation of suspended sediment and phosphorus filtration services by four different wetland types: A preliminary assessment for southern Ontario, Canada

Aziz

Cappellen

2021

Hydrological Processes

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Wetlands are known for their water filtration (or purification) function. Although different wetland types differ in their filtration capacity, they are usually aggregated together in economic valuation studies. Here, we explicitly separate the valuation of the suspended sediment and phosphorus (P) filtration services of the four major wetland types-bogs, fens, marshes and swamps-found in southern Ontario, Canada.The areal extents of the four wetland types are derived from the Canadian Wetland Inventory (CWI) progress map, while the sediment accretion rate is used as the key variable regulating the suspended sediment and P filtration functions. Based on available literature data, we assess the relationship of the sediment accretion rate to wetland size. Because only weak positive correlations are found, we assign a mean (average) sediment accretion rate to each wetland type. The sediment accretion rates are combined with mean soil P concentrations to estimate Pretention rates by the wetlands. The replacement cost method is then applied to valuate the sediment and P filtration services. The unit values for both sediment and P retention decrease in the order: marshes > bogs ≈ swamps > fens. The total value of sediment plus phosphorus removal by all wetlands in southern Ontario amounts to $4.2 ± 2.9 billion per year, of which about 80% is accounted for by swamps. We further assess the costs of different options to offset the additional P loading generated in a hypothetical scenario whereby all wetlands are converted to agriculture. The results demonstrate that replacing the P filtration function of existing wetlands with conventional land management and water treatment solutions is not cost-effective, hence reinforcing the importance of protecting existing wetlands.

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Recent Rates of Carbon Accumulation in Montane Fens of Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.A.

Cited by 4 publications

References 39 publications

Estimation and Uncertainty of Recent Carbon Accumulation and Vertical Accretion in Drained and Undrained Forested Peatlands of the Southeastern USA

Estimation and Uncertainty of Recent Carbon Accumulation and Vertical Accretion in Drained and Undrained Forested Peatlands of the Southeastern USA

Peatland Contribution to Stream Organic Carbon Exports From a Montane Watershed

Economic valuation of suspended sediment and phosphorus filtration services by four different wetland types: A preliminary assessment for southern Ontario, Canada

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