Projected changes in climate could shift northern peatlands from their current status as net C sinks toward that of being net C sources by changing soil temperatures and hydrology. We assessed the importance of water table and soil temperature as controls over ecosystem respiration in a bog and sedge fen in northern Minnesota, USA, by means of a manipulative mesocosm experiment. Fifty-four intact monoliths were removed from a bog and a fen and installed in insulated tanks that permitted control of the water table and were heated by overhead infrared heaters. The experimental design was a fully crossed factorial combination of two communities, three water tables, and three heat levels. Ecosystem respiration as indicated by emission of CO 2 and CH 4 , dissolved nutrient fluxes, and productivity were measured and summarized for each growing season from 1995 to 1997.Seasonal ecosystem respiration (ER) as indicated by CO 2 emissions responded almost exclusively to soil temperature and did not differ between community types (ϳ630 g C/ m 2 ) or with water table level. These results suggest that community type, within certain limits, will not be an important factor in predicting temperature-driven increases in ER.The response of CH 4 flux to soil temperature and water table setting became progressively stronger in each succeeding growing season. Seasonal CH 4 emissions were on average three times higher in the bog than in the fen mesocosms (21 vs. 7 g C/m 2 ). Aboveground net primary productivity and dissolved N retention were also higher in the bog mesocosms. There were strong correlations between CH 4 flux and N retention, but generally weak correlations between CH 4 and plant primary production. The relatively lower CH 4 emissions from the fen mesocosms appear to result mainly from higher rates of methanotrophy in the aerated zone, possibly reinforced by the effects of higher porewater N concentrations and lower primary productivity compared to the bogs.The results confirm the existence of strong environmental controls over ER and methanogenesis, which are modulated by complex interactions between plant community and soil nutrient dynamics. The differential responses of these ecosystem functions to climate change may complicate efforts to predict future changes in C dynamics in these important repositories of soil C.

Peatlands occupy approximately 15% of boreal and sub‐arctic regions, contain approximately one third of the world's soil carbon pool, and supply most of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) entering boreal lakes and rivers and the Arctic Ocean. The high latitudes occupied by these peatlands are expected to see the greatest amount of climatic warming in the next several decades. In addition to increasing temperatures, climatic change could also affect the position of the water‐table level and discharge from these peatlands. Changes in temperature, water tables, and discharge could affect delivery of DOC to downstream ecosystems where it exerts significant control over productivity, biogeochemical cycles, and attenuation of visible and UV radiation. We experimentally warmed and controlled water tables while measuring discharge in a factorial experiment in large mesocosms containing peat monoliths and intact plant communities from a bog and fen to determine the effects of climate change on DOC budgets. We show that the DOC budget is controlled largely by changes in discharge rather than by any effect of warming or position of the water‐table level on DOC concentrations. Furthermore, we identify a critical discharge rate in bogs and fens for which the DOC budget switches from net export to net retention. We also demonstrate an exponential increase in trace gas CO2–C and CH4–C emissions coincident with increased retention of dissolved organic carbon from boreal peatlands.

As an initial step towards evaluating whether mycorrhizas influence composition and diversity in calcareous fen plant communities, we surveyed root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytic fungi (DSE) in 67 plant species in three different fens in central New York State (USA). We found colonization by AMF and DSE in most plant species at all three sites, with the type and extent of colonization differing between monocots and dicots. On average, AMF colonization was higher in dicots (58+/-3%, mean+/-SE) than in monocots (13+/-4%) but DSE colonization followed the opposite trend (24+/-3% in monocots and 9+/-1% in dicots). In sedges and cattails, two monocot families that are often abundant in fens and other wetlands, AMF colonization was usually very low (<10%) in five species and completely absent in seven others. However, DSE colonization in these species was frequently observed. Responses of wetland plants to AMF and DSE are poorly understood, but in the fen communities surveyed, dicots appear to be in a better position to respond to AMF than many of these more abundant monocots (e.g., sedges and cattails). In contrast, these monocots may be more likely to respond to DSE. Future work directed towards understanding the response of these wetland plants to AMF and DSE should provide insight into the roles these fungal symbionts play in influencing diversity in fen plant communities.