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Title: A climatically significant abiotic mechanism driving carbon loss and nitrogen limitation in peat bogs

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [3];  [1]
  1. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
  4. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
  5. Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)
  6. Stockholm Univ. (Sweden)
  7. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Sphagnum-dominated bogs are climatically impactful systems that exhibit two puzzling characteristics: CO2:CH4 ratios are greater than those predicted by electron balance models and C decomposition rates are enigmatically slow. We hypothesized that Maillard reactions partially explain both phenomena by increasing apparent CO2 production via eliminative decarboxylation and sequestering bioavailable nitrogen (N). We tested this hypothesis using incubations of sterilized Maillard reactants, and live and sterilized bog peat. Consistent with our hypotheses, CO2 production in the sterilized peat was equivalent to 8–13% of CO2 production in unsterilized peat, and the increased formation of aromatic N compounds decreased N-availability. Numerous sterility assessments rule out biological contamination or extracellular enzyme activity as significant sources of this CO2. These findings suggest a need for a reevaluation of the fixed CO2:CH4 production ratios commonly used in wetland biogeochemical models, which could be improved by incorporating abiotic sources of CO2 production and N sequestration.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); Swedish Research Council (SRC); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010580; SC0016440
OSTI ID:
2504001
Report Number(s):
LLNL--JRNL-2005869
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 15; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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