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°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/cm3, organic matter bulk density averaged 0.11 ± 0.05 g/cm3, 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/m2/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/m2/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 .

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Ecological Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Ecology.Abstract. Net accumulation rates of carbon in a 9000 calendar year record of Sphagnum fuscum peat in western boreal Canada range from 13.6 to 34.9 g.m-2 yr-1. The depth vs. age curve is slightly convex due to generally declining net productivity at the site. Fossil carbon/nitrogen ratios of bulk Sphagnum fuscum peat and its components are used to calculate the rate and total amount of decay in the deeper anoxic peat deposits. The proportional rate of decay in the catotelm of the peatland declines linearly over time. Carbon loss from the catotelm is estimated at 50% after 1700 calendar years and 65% after 7500 calendar years. Carbon has been added to the catotelm at an average rate of 28.0 g.m-2*yr-1 over the last 1174 years, whereas, at present, the cumulative loss of carbon over the entire catotelm is 19.4 g.m-2*yr-1. The peatland continues to represent a sink for carbon.

The relationships between vegetation components, surface water chemistry and peat chemistry from 23 fens in boreal Alberta, Canada, substantiate important differences along the poor to rich fen gradient. Each of the three fen types have their own characteristic species. The extreme-rich fens are characterized by Calliergon trifarium, Drepanocladus revolvens, Scirpus hudsonianus, S. cespitosus, Scorpidium scorpioides, and Tofieldia glutinosa. Moderate-rich fens are characterized by Brachythecium rnildeanum, Carex diandra, Drepanocladus vernicosus, D. aduncus, and D. polycarpus. Poor fens are characterized by Carex pauciflora, Drepanocladus exannulatus, Sphagnum angustifolium, S. jensenii, and S. majus. Moderate-rich fens have fewer species in common with poor fens than with extreme-rich fens, while species richness is highest in the moderate-rich fens and lowest in poor fens. Variation in vascular plant occurrence appears to be more associated with nutrient levels, while bryophytes are more affected by changes in acidity and mineral elements. Based on chemical criteria, the three fen types are clearly separated by surface water pH, calcium, magnesium, and conductivity, but are less clearly differentiated by the nitrogen and phosphorus components of the surface waters. Moderate-rich fens are chemically variable both temporally and spatially, whereas poor fens and extreme-rich fens are more stable ecosystems. Whereas components of alkalinity-acidity are the most important factors that distinguish the three fen types in western Canada, nutrient concentrations in the surface waters generally do not differ appreciably in the three fen types.

Peatlands are a major terrestrial carbon store and a persistent natural carbon sink during the Holocene, but there is considerable uncertainty over the fate of peatland carbon in a changing climate. It is generally assumed that higher temperatures will increase peat decay, causing a positive feedback to climate warming and contributing to the global positive carbon cycle feedback. Here we use a new extensive database of peat profiles across northern high latitudes to examine spatial and temporal patterns of carbon accumulation over the past millennium. Opposite to expectations, our results indicate a small negative carbon cycle feedback from past changes in the long-term accumulation rates of northern peatlands. Total carbon accumulated over the last 1000 yr is linearly related to contemporary growing season length and photosynthetically active radiation, suggesting that variability in net primary productivity is more important than decomposition in determining long-term carbon accumulation. Furthermore, northern peatland carbon sequestration rate declined over the climate transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) to the Little Ice Age (LIA), probably because of lower LIA temperatures combined with increased cloudiness suppressing net primary productivity. Other factors including changing moisture status, peatland distribution, fire, nitrogen deposition, permafrost thaw and methane emissions will also influence future peatland carbon cycle feedbacks, but our data suggest that the carbon sequestration rate could increase over many areas of northern peatlands in a warmer future

Summary 1.We separated the effects of plant species controls on decomposition rates from environmental controls in northern peatlands using a full factorial, reciprocal transplant experiment of eight dominant bryophytes in four distinct peatland types in boreal Alberta, Canada. Standard fractionation techniques as well as compound-specific pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometry were used to identify a biochemical mechanism underlying any interspecific differences in decomposition rates. 2. We found that over a 3-year field incubation, individual moss species and not micro-environmental conditions controlled early stages of decomposition. Across species, Sphagnum mosses exhibited a trade-off in resource partitioning into metabolic and structural carbohydrates, a pattern that served as a strong predictor of litter decomposition. 3. Decomposition rates showed a negative co-variation between species and their microtopographic position, as species that live in hummocks decomposed slowly but hummock microhabitats themselves corresponded to rapid decomposition rates. By forming litter that degrades slowly, hummock mosses appear to promote the maintenance of macropore structure in surface peat hummocks that aid in water retention. 4. Synthesis . Many northern regions are experiencing rapid climate warming that is expected to accelerate the decomposition of large soil carbon pools stored within peatlands. However, our results suggest that some common peatland moss species form tissue that resists decomposition across a range of peatland environments, suggesting that moss resource allocation could stabilize peatland carbon losses under a changing climate.