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Title: Warming response of peatland CO2 sink is sensitive to seasonality in warming trends

Journal Article · · Nature Climate Change
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  1. Dalhousie Univ., Halifax, NS (Canada)
  2. Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki (Finland)
  3. Finnish Meteorological Inst. (FMI), Helsinki (Finland)
  4. Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena (Germany)
  5. Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
  6. Univ. of Lethbridge, AB (Canada)
  7. Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States)
  8. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  9. UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
  10. Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan)
  11. Carleton Univ., Ottawa, ON (Canada)
  12. University College Cork (Ireland)
  13. USDA Forest Service, Grand Rapids, MN (United States). Northern Research Station
  14. Finnish Meteorological Inst. (FMI), Helsinki (Finland); Univ. of Helsinki (Finland)
  15. Univ. of Helsinki (Finland)
  16. Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Umea (Sweden)
  17. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Krasnoyarsk (Russian Federation). V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest SB
  18. Univ. of Oslo (Norway); Lund Univ. (Sweden)
  19. Lund Univ. (Sweden); Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki (Finland)
  20. Univ. of Montreal, QC (Canada)
  21. Univ. of Eastern Finland, Joensuu (Finland)
  22. Osaka Metropolitan University (Japan)
  23. Lund Univ. (Sweden)
  24. Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås (Norway)
  25. Univ. of Gothenburg (Sweden)

Peatlands have acted as net CO2 sinks over millennia, exerting a global climate cooling effect. Rapid warming at northern latitudes, where peatlands are abundant, can disturb their CO2 sink function. In this work, we show that sensitivity of peatland net CO2 exchange to warming changes in sign and magnitude across seasons, resulting in complex net CO2 sink responses. We use multiannual net CO2 exchange observations from 20 northern peatlands to show that warmer early summers are linked to increased net CO2 uptake, while warmer late summers lead to decreased net CO2 uptake. Thus, net CO2 sinks of peatlands in regions experiencing early summer warming, such as central Siberia, are more likely to persist under warmer climate conditions than are those in other regions. Our results will be useful to improve the design of future warming experiments and to better interpret large-scale trends in peatland net CO2 uptake over the coming few decades.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); Russian Foundation for Basic Research; Krasnoyarsk Regional Fund of Science; Russian Science Foundation; Arctic Challenge for Sustainability; KAKENHI; ERTDI Programme, Irish Government; Irish Environmental Protection Agency; Research Council of Norway; Academy of Finland; Swedish Research Council (SRC); National Science Foundation (NSF); Natural Environment Research Council
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; JPMXD1420318865; 19H05668; 2001‐CC/CD‐(5/7); 2001-CC-C2-M1; 274711; 2017-05268; 2018-01820; 330840; 337550; DEB-1026415; DEB-1636476; LTREB 2011276; NE/R016429/1
OSTI ID:
1881126
Journal Information:
Nature Climate Change, Vol. 12, Issue 8; ISSN 1758-678X
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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