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Title: Stability of peatland carbon to rising temperatures

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13723· OSTI ID:1336572
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [8];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [5];  [1];  [2];  [5]
  1. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States). Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
  2. Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States). Inst. of Ecology and Evolution
  3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab.
  4. USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Grand Rapids, MN (United States)
  5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  6. Chapman Univ., Orange, CA (United States). Schmid College of Science and Technology
  7. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  8. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Biological Sciences and School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
+ Show Author Affiliations

Peatlands contain one-third of the world’s soil carbon (C), mostly in the deep permanently saturated anoxic zone (i.e., catotelm)1 where C mineralization rates may be constrained, in part, by low temperatures; yet all soil warming experiments to date have focused on the response of peatland C degradation to surface warming2, 3. If the slow decomposition of deep peat C is due to kinetic constraints, then increasing temperatures at depth should cause parallel increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or methane (CH4) production rates. Increasing CH4 emissions are of particular concern because CH4 has a sustained-flux global warming potential (SGWP) 45-times greater than CO2 over a 100- year timeframe4, creating a significant positive feedback to climate warming. Using a novel whole-ecosystem scale experiment in a regression-based design we show that ecosystem scale warming of deep peat exponentially increased CH4 emissions —but not ecosystem respiration of CO2— in the first year. Multiple lines of evidence, including laboratory incubations and in situ analyses of 14C, dissolved gases, and microbial community metabolic potential, indicate that CH4 emissions increased due to surface processes and not degradation of deep C. Our results indicate that rapid changes to the large bank of deep buried C in temperate peatlands may be minimal under future climatic warming.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1336572
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1339878
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-118747; KP1702010; ERKP788
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 7; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 132 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (21)

Local Spatial Heterogeneity of Holocene Carbon Accumulation throughout the Peat Profile of an Ombrotrophic Northern Minnesota Bog journal May 2018
Carbon storage change and δ13C transitions of peat columns in a partially forestry-drained boreal bog journal December 2019
Seasonal shifts in export of DOC and nutrients from burned and unburned peatland-rich catchments, Northwest Territories, Canada journal January 2018
Seasonal shifts in export of DOC and nutrients from burned and unburned peatland-rich catchments, Northwest Territories, Canada journal May 2018
Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming text January 2018
Conversion of coastal marshes to croplands decreases organic carbon but increases inorganic carbon in saline soils journal January 2020
Constraints on microbial communities, decomposition and methane production in deep peat deposits journal February 2020
Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance journal September 2018
Phosphorus rather than nitrogen enhances CO 2 emissions in tropical forest soils: Evidence from a laboratory incubation study journal January 2020
Hydrogeomorphic controls on soil carbon composition in two classes of subalpine wetlands journal September 2019
Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance text January 2021
Aquatic export of young dissolved and gaseous carbon from a pristine boreal fen: Implications for peat carbon stock stability journal September 2017
Rapid loss of an ecosystem engineer: Sphagnum decline in an experimentally warmed bog journal October 2019
Respiration of aged soil carbon during fall in permafrost peatlands enhanced by active layer deepening following wildfire but limited following thermokarst journal August 2018
Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming journal September 2018
Deep peat warming increases surface methane and carbon dioxide emissions in a black spruce-dominated ombrotrophic bog journal July 2017
Limited contribution of permafrost carbon to methane release from thawing peatlands journal June 2017
Ecosystem warming extends vegetation activity but heightens vulnerability to cold temperatures journal August 2018
Diazotroph Community Characterization via a High-Throughput nifH Amplicon Sequencing and Analysis Pipeline journal November 2017
Experimental warming alters the community composition, diversity, and N 2 fixation activity of peat moss ( Sphagnum fallax ) microbiomes journal May 2019
Climatic controls on peatland black spruce growth in relation to water table variation and precipitation journal July 2019

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