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Title: Thermal acclimation of plant photosynthesis and autotrophic respiration in a northern peatland

Journal Article · · Environmental Research. Climate

Abstract Peatlands contain one-third of global soil carbon (C), but the responses of peatland ecosystems to long-term warming are not well understood. Here, we pursue an emergent understanding of warming effects on ecosystem C fluxes at peatlands by constraining a process-oriented model, the terrestrial ECOsystem model, with observational data from a long-term warming experiment at the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments site. Model-based assessments show that ecosystem-level photosynthesis and autotrophic respiration exhibited significant thermal acclimation, with temperature sensitivities being linearly decreased with warming. Using the thermal-acclimated parameter values, simulated gross primary production, net primary production, and plant autotrophic respiration ( R a ), were all lower than those simulated with non-thermal acclimated parameter values. In contrast, ecosystem respiration simulated with thermal acclimated parameter values was higher than that simulated with non-thermal acclimated parameter values. Net ecosystem CO 2 exchange was much higher after constraining model parameters with observational data from the warming treatments, releasing C at a rate of 28.3 g C m −2 yr −1 °C −1 . Our data-model integration study suggests that peatlands are likely to release more C than previously estimated. Earth system models may overestimate C uptake by peatlands under warming if physiological thermal acclimation of plants is not incorporated. Thus, it is critical to consider the long-term physiological thermal acclimation of plants in the models to better predict global C dynamics under future climate and their feedback to climate change.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1971148
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2538497; OSTI ID: 1962892
Journal Information:
Environmental Research. Climate, Journal Name: Environmental Research. Climate Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 2; ISSN 2752-5295
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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