1. |
- Gallego-Sala, Angela V., et al.
(author)
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Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming
- 2018
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In: Nature Climate Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-678X .- 1758-6798. ; 8:10, s. 907-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The carbon sink potential of peatlands depends on the balance of carbon uptake by plants and microbial decomposition. The rates of both these processes will increase with warming but it remains unclear which will dominate the global peatland response. Here we examine the global relationship between peatland carbon accumulation rates during the last millennium and planetary-scale climate space. A positive relationship is found between carbon accumulation and cumulative photosynthetically active radiation during the growing season for mid- to high-latitude peatlands in both hemispheres. However, this relationship reverses at lower latitudes, suggesting that carbon accumulation is lower under the warmest climate regimes. Projections under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios indicate that the present-day global sink will increase slightly until around AD 2100 but decline thereafter. Peatlands will remain a carbon sink in the future, but their response to warming switches from a negative to a positive climate feedback (decreased carbon sink with warming) at the end of the twenty-first century.
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2. |
- Loisel, Julie, et al.
(author)
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A database and synthesis of northern peatland soil properties and Holocene carbon and nitrogen accumulation
- 2014
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In: The Holocene. - : SAGE Publications. - 0959-6836 .- 1477-0911. ; 24:9, s. 1028-1042
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Here, we present results from the most comprehensive compilation of Holocene peat soil properties with associated carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates for northern peatlands. Our database consists of 268 peat cores from 215 sites located north of 45 degrees N. It encompasses regions within which peat carbon data have only recently become available, such as the West Siberia Lowlands, the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Kamchatka in Far East Russia, and the Tibetan Plateau. For all northern peatlands, carbon content in organic matter was estimated at 42 +/- 3% (standard deviation) for Sphagnum peat, 51 +/- 2% for non-Sphagnum peat, and at 49 +/- 2% overall. Dry bulk density averaged 0.12 +/- 0.07 g/cm(3), organic matter bulk density averaged 0.11 +/- 0.05 g/cm(3), and total carbon content in peat averaged 47 +/- 6%. In general, large differences were found between Sphagnum and non-Sphagnum peat types in terms of peat properties. Time-weighted peat carbon accumulation rates averaged 23 +/- 2 (standard error of mean) g C/m(2)/yr during the Holocene on the basis of 151 peat cores from 127 sites, with the highest rates of carbon accumulation (25-28 g C/m(2)/yr) recorded during the early Holocene when the climate was warmer than the present. Furthermore, we estimate the northern peatland carbon and nitrogen pools at 436 and 10 gigatons, respectively. The database is publicly available at https://peatlands.lehigh.edu.
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3. |
- Qiu, Chunjing, et al.
(author)
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A strong mitigation scenario maintains climate neutrality of northern peatlands
- 2022
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In: One Earth. - : Elsevier BV. - 2590-3330 .- 2590-3322. ; 5:1, s. 86-97
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Northern peatlands store 300–600 Pg C, of which approximately half are underlain by permafrost. Climate warming and, in some regions, soil drying from enhanced evaporation are progressively threatening this large carbon stock. Here, we assess future CO2 and CH4 fluxes from northern peatlands using five land surface models that explicitly include representation of peatland processes. Under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 2.6, northern peatlands are projected to remain a net sink of CO2 and climate neutral for the next three centuries. A shift to a net CO2 source and a substantial increase in CH4 emissions are projected under RCP8.5, which could exacerbate global warming by 0.21°C (range, 0.09–0.49°C) by the year 2300. The true warming impact of peatlands might be higher owing to processes not simulated by the models and direct anthropogenic disturbance. Our study highlights the importance of understanding how future warming might trigger high carbon losses from northern peatlands.
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4. |
- Piilo, Sanna R., et al.
(author)
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Consistent centennial-scale change in European sub-Arctic peatland vegetation toward Sphagnum dominance—Implications for carbon sink capacity
- 2023
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 29:6, s. 1530-1544
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Climate warming is leading to permafrost thaw in northern peatlands, and current predictions suggest that thawing will drive greater surface wetness and an increase in methane emissions. Hydrology largely drives peatland vegetation composition, which is a key element in peatland functioning and thus in carbon dynamics. These processes are expected to change. Peatland carbon accumulation is determined by the balance between plant production and peat decomposition. But both processes are expected to accelerate in northern peatlands due to warming, leading to uncertainty in future peatland carbon budgets. Here, we compile a dataset of vegetation changes and apparent carbon accumulation data reconstructed from 33 peat cores collected from 16 sub-arctic peatlands in Fennoscandia and European Russia. The data cover the past two millennia that has undergone prominent changes in climate and a notable increase in annual temperatures toward present times. We show a pattern where European sub-Arctic peatland microhabitats have undergone a habitat change where currently drier habitats dominated by Sphagnum mosses replaced wetter sedge-dominated vegetation and these new habitats have remained relatively stable over the recent decades. Our results suggest an alternative future pathway where sub-arctic peatlands may at least partly sustain dry vegetation and enhance the carbon sink capacity of northern peatlands.
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5. |
- Sillasoo, Ulle, et al.
(author)
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Peat multi-proxy from Männikjärve bog as indicators of Late Holocene climate changes in Estonia
- 2007
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In: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483 .- 1502-3885. ; 36:1, s. 20-37
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As part of a wider project on European climate change over the past 4500 years, a 4.5-m peat core was taken from a lawn microform on Männikjärve bog, Estonia. Several methods were used to yield proxy-climate data: (i) a quadrat and leaf-count method for plant macrofossil data, (ii) testate amoebae analysis, and (iii) colorimetric determination of peat humification. These data are provided with an exceptionally high resolution and precise chronology. Changes in bog surface wetness were inferred using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and zonation of macrofossil data, particularly concerning the occurrence of Sphagnum balticum, and a transfer function for water-table depth for testate amoebae data. Based on the results, periods of high bog surface wetness appear to have occurred at c. 3100,3010–2990,2300, 1750–1610, 1510, 1410, 1110, 540 and 310 cal. yr BP, during four longer periods between c. 3170 and 2850 cal. yr BP, 2450 and 2000 cal. yr BP, 1770 and 1530 cal. yr BP and in the period from 880 cal. yr BP until the present. In the period between 1770 and 1530 cal. yr BP, the extension or initiation of a hollow microtope occurred, which corresponds with other research results from Mannikjarve bog. This and other changes towards increasing bog surface wetness may be the responses to colder temperatures and the predominance of a more continental climate in the region, which favoured the development of bog micro-depressions and a complex bog microtopography. Located in the border zone of oceanic and continental climatic sectors, in an area almost without land uplift, this study site may provide valuable information about changes in palaeohydrological and palaeoclimatological conditions in the northern parts of the eastern Baltic Sea region.
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