Chapter 13: Terrestrial Wetlands. Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report

Kolka, Randall K.; Trettin, Carl C.; Tang, Wenwu; Krauss, Ken W.; Bansal, Sheel; Drexler, Judith Z.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Chimner, Rod A.; Hogan, Dianna M.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Benscoter, Brian W.; Tangen, Brian A.; Kane, Evan S.; Bridgham, Scott D.; Richardson, C.J.

doi:10.7930/soccr2.2018.ch13

Cited by 33 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Although all wetlands store large amounts of carbon, some wetland types store more than others. For example, in North America, mineral soil wetlands contain ~20% of total wetland carbon, while organic soil peatlands store ~80%, even though mineral soil wetlands make up 40% of wetland area (Kolka et al, 2018). In the present study, we found an even greater disparity, with wetland C stocks of 0.5 Tg compared to 17 Tg for peatlands.…”

Section: Carbon Stocks Of Andean Mountain Wetlandscontrasting

confidence: 48%

“…The ability of wetlands to store soil carbon is a well-established ecosystem function, driven primarily by waterlogging and the resulting inhibition of decomposition (Nahlik and Fennessy, 2016). As a result, wetlands contain a high proportion of the Earth's total soil carbon relative to their surface area (Kolka et al, 2018). Wetlands also provide many additional ecosystem functions and values, such as improved water quality and storage, nutrient transformation and storage, habitat, and grazing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mountain wetland soil carbon stocks of Huascarán National Park, Peru

et al. 2023

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Although wetlands contain a disproportionately high amount of earth’s total soil carbon, many regions are still poorly mapped and with unquantified carbon stocks. The tropical Andes contain a high concentration of wetlands consisting mostly of wet meadows and peatlands, yet their total organic carbon stocks are poorly quantified, as well as the carbon fraction that wet meadows store compared to peatlands. Therefore, our goal was to quantify how soil carbon stocks vary between wet meadows and peatlands for a previously mapped Andean region, Huascarán National Park, Peru. Our secondary goal was to test a rapid peat sampling protocol to facilitate field sampling in remote areas. We sampled soil to calculate carbon stocks of four wetland types: cushion peat, graminoid peat, cushion wet meadow, and graminoid wet meadow. Soil sampling was conducted by using a stratified randomized sampling scheme. Wet meadows were sampled to the mineral boundary using a gouge auger, and we used a combination of full peat cores and a rapid peat sampling procedure to estimate peat carbon stocks. In the lab, soils were processed for bulk density and carbon content, and total carbon stock of each core was calculated. We sampled 63 wet meadows and 42 peatlands. On a per hectare basis, carbon stocks varied strongly between peatlands (avg. 1092 MgC ha-1) and wet meadows (avg. 30 MgC ha-1). Overall, wetlands in Huascarán National Park contain 24.4 Tg of carbon with peatlands storing 97% of the total wetland carbon and wet meadows accounting for 3% of the wetland carbon in the park. In addition, our results show that rapid peat sampling can be an effective method for sampling carbon stocks in peatlands. These data are important for countries developing land use and climate change policies as well as providing a rapid assessment method for wetland carbon stock monitoring programs.

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Section: Carbon Stocks Of Andean Mountain Wetlandscontrasting

confidence: 48%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mountain wetland soil carbon stocks of Huascarán National Park, Peru

et al. 2023

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“…While peatlands are widely appreciated for their high density of soil organic carbon (Kolka et al, 2018), there are still gaps in our mechanistic understanding of the vulnerability of this tremendous carbon store to mineralization (Bridgham et al, 2008;Waddington et al, 2015). Peat decomposition is largely arrested in the hypoxic and anoxic environments occurring in saturated soils (Blodau, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduction‐Oxidation Potential and Dissolved Organic Matter Composition in Northern Peat Soil: Interactive Controls of Water Table Position and Plant Functional Groups

et al. 2019

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Globally important carbon (C) stores in northern peatlands are vulnerable to oxidation in a changing climate. A growing body of literature draws attention to the importance of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in governing anaerobic metabolism in organic soil, but exactly how the reduction-oxidation (redox) activities of DOM, and particularly the phenolic fraction, are likely to change in an altered climate remain unclear. We used large mesocosms in the PEATcosm experiment to assess changes in peatland DOM and redox potential in response to experimental manipulations of water table (WT) position and plant functional groups (PFGs). WT position and PFGs interacted in their effects on redox potential and quantity and quality of DOM. Phenolics were generally of higher molecular weight and more oxidized with sedges in lowered WTs. Altered DOM character included changes in dissolved nitrogen (N), with higher N:[phenolics] with higher E4:E6 (absorbance ratio λ = 465:665) DOM in the lowered WT and sedge PFG treatments. Conversely, biomolecular assignments to amino-sugars were largely absent from low-WT treatments. Low WT resulted in the creation of unique N compounds, which were more condensed (lower H:C), that changed with depth and PFG. The accumulation of oxidized compounds with low WT and in sedge rhizospheres could be very important pools of electron acceptors beneath the WT, and their mechanisms of formation are discussed. This work suggests the effects of changes in vegetation communities can be as great as WT position in directly and interactively mediating peat redox environment and the redox-activity of DOM. Plain Language Summary Peatlands are important ecosystems in both the global carbon (C)cycle and the Earth's climate system owing to their ability to store vast quantities of C taken from the atmosphere. Peat C stays locked up in these ecosystems largely owing to cool and wet conditions, and as such, these C stores are vulnerable to release back to the atmosphere if the climate or water levels change. Water table level and plant species composition have a combined effect on C and nitrogen (N) cycling in peatlands. We manipulated both factors in an experimental setting composed of 24 large bins into which we put intact peatland miniecosystems. Sedges play a big role in producing N compounds below the peat surface, and this work suggests these compounds can actually be synthesized into larger, less accessible compounds. In addition, activities of sedge roots and other dominant plant communities (such as shrubs in the heath family of plants) may interact in the synthesis of oxidized, larger molecules. These molecules can allow microbes to continue to decompose peat even in the absence of oxygen. This could increase the release of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, while reducing inputs of the stronger greenhouse gas methane.

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“…On the other hand, increased fertilizer use can not only result in increased food production but also increased emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas, N 2 O. Creation or drainage of wetlands can alter CH 4 emissions (Kolka et al 2018). For example, drainage of wetlands can lead to lower CH 4 emissions but higher CO 2 emissions as a result of lower anerobic respiration and higher aerobic respiration.…”

Section: Potential Climate Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of greenhouse gases as climate indicators

Bruhwiler¹,

Basu

Butler³

et al. 2021

Climatic Change

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Humans have significantly altered the energy balance of the Earth’s climate system mainly not only by extracting and burning fossil fuels but also by altering the biosphere and using halocarbons. The 3rd US National Climate Assessment pointed to a need for a system of indicators of climate and global change based on long-term data that could be used to support assessments and this led to the development of the National Climate Indicators System (NCIS). Here we identify a representative set of key atmospheric indicators of changes in atmospheric radiative forcing due to greenhouse gases (GHGs), and we evaluate atmospheric composition measurements, including non-CO2 GHGs for use as climate change indicators in support of the US National Climate Assessment. GHG abundances and their changes over time can provide valuable information on the success of climate mitigation policies, as well as insights into possible carbon-climate feedback processes that may ultimately affect the success of those policies. To ensure that reliable information for assessing GHG emission changes can be provided on policy-relevant scales, expanded observational efforts are needed. Furthermore, the ability to detect trends resulting from changing emissions requires a commitment to supporting long-term observations. Long-term measurements of greenhouse gases, aerosols, and clouds and related climate indicators used with a dimming/brightening index could provide a foundation for quantifying forcing and its attribution and reducing error in existing indicators that do not account for complicated cloud processes.

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Chapter 13: Terrestrial Wetlands. Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report

Cited by 33 publications

References 0 publications

Mountain wetland soil carbon stocks of Huascarán National Park, Peru

Mountain wetland soil carbon stocks of Huascarán National Park, Peru

Reduction‐Oxidation Potential and Dissolved Organic Matter Composition in Northern Peat Soil: Interactive Controls of Water Table Position and Plant Functional Groups

Observations of greenhouse gases as climate indicators

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