Insight into the factors of mountain bog and forest development in the Schwarzwald Mts.: Implications for ecological restoration

Gałka, Mariusz; Hölzer, Adam; Feurdean, Angelica; Loisel, Julie; Teickner, Henning; Diaconu, Andrei‐Cosmin; Szal, Marta; Broder, Tanja; Knorr, Klaus‐Holger

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109039

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Interestingly, S. fuscum , a dominant species in ombrotrophic peatlands usually in driest habitats (such as hummocks) (Hölzer, 2010; Laine et al, 2011; Wojtuń et al, 2013), expanded at TW at these times. An expansion of S. fuscum under wetter conditions was also observed at a mountain bog in Southwestern Germany (Gałka et al, 2022). Low concentration of Ca and Mg indicate that the uppermost peat layers were disconnected from the groundwater during this phase at TWI, which may have supported S. fuscum colonisation (Figures 8 and 9).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…An expansion of S. fuscum under wetter conditions was also observed at a mountain bog in Southwestern Germany (Gałka et al, 2022). Low concentration of Ca and Mg indicate that the uppermost peat layers were disconnected from the groundwater during this phase at TWI, which may have supported S. fuscum colonisation (Figures 8 and 9).…”

Section: Stage a (Ca 3700-3250 Cal Bp)mentioning

confidence: 71%

“…BP, indicating wetter conditions that likely enhanced the spread of S. angustifolium (optimum WTL 17–4 cm below surface) (Dierssen & Dierssen, 1984; Gałka et al, 2019). This observed coincidence of a shift to wetter climate conditions and concomitant changes in forest composition (the spread of fir and an increase in the amount of beech) locally but also more general in the Carpathians (see below), and the expansion of oligotrophic Sphagnum species was also observed at a mountain bog in Southwest Germany (site ‘Moor an der Martinskapelle’, Black Forest Mts., Gałka et al, 2022) and at a site in Poland (Mechacz Wielki bog, NE Poland, Gałka, Tobolski, Lamentowicz, et al, 2017). These accentuated wet conditions may coincide with the 2.8 ka cold event (Wanner et al, 2011), which was characterised by climate cooling and increased humidity, causing higher rates of peat accumulation in many ombrotrophic peatlands in western Europe (van Geel et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How degraded are the peatland and forest ecosystems in the Bieszczady Mountains (Central Europe)? An assessment using long‐term records

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Peatland and forest ecosystems located in the Bieszczady Mts. (Carpathians, Central Europe) have been affected by human activity since the Neolithic, with this impact intensifying over time. We conducted long-term studies to: (i) determine past peatland and forest development and current ecological state; (ii) assess the role of different factors that influenced ecosystem development over the last 3750 years; and(iii) determine natural reference conditions as a basis for the restoration of degraded mountain bogs and forests in the region. High-resolution multi-proxy palaeoecological analyses (plant macrofossils, pollen, testate amoebae, macro and microcharcoal, peat stoichiometry and stable isotopes), supported by radiocarbon dating, were performed on peat cores from an ombrotrophic peatland. Our study revealed that the peatland and forest ecosystems have been impacted by both climate change and human activity (fires, deforestation, and grazing) over the past 3750 years and that massive deforestation took place 400 years ago. Changes in forest composition led to the intensification in erosion between 3700-1500 cal. BP and over the past 350 years. Drainage resulted in hydrological disturbances but did neither stop the peat formation process nor decreased the abundance of species forming the natural peat plant communities indicative of oligotrophic conditions. However, hydrological disturbances shifted peat plant composition to dry-adapted species (e.g. dwarf shrubs, Pinus sylvestris). Average water level depth fluctuated between ca. 10 and 25 cm over the last 3750 years; thus these are conditions that could be considered as hydrological reference for restoration measures. Our approach to identify natural reference conditions may be expanded to peatlands from other temperate mountain ranges.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Stage a (Ca 3700-3250 Cal Bp)mentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

How degraded are the peatland and forest ecosystems in the Bieszczady Mountains (Central Europe)? An assessment using long‐term records

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Again, in our data set, lower depth classes showed high δ 15 N values and N enrichment due to intense recycling during decomposition, for example, in initial fen stages (Jones et al., 2010). In terms of peat quality, our data set may thus cover most of the transition from bog to poor or intermediate fen peat (Gałka et al., 2019, 2022; Jones et al., 2010; Mathijssen et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron Accepting Capacities of a Wide Variety of Peat Materials From Around the Globe Similarly Explain CO₂ and CH₄ Formation

Guth

Gao

Knorr

2022

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Peatlands are important carbon (C) stores with an estimated stock of 540 Pg C, while only covering about 3%-4% of the global land surface area (Gorham et al., 2012;Yu, 2011). They also emit approximately 36 Tg CH 4 -C (equivalent to approx. 10% Total ) to the global atmospheric budget (Abdalla et al., 2016;Mikaloff Fletcher et al., 2004;Wuebbles, 2002;Yu, 2011). This dual role is due to fundamental differences in the microbial decomposition in water-saturated peatland ecosystems compared to mineralization in drained soils. Decomposition also happens here to a large extent under aerobic conditions in the unsaturated layer of the acrotelm, but proceeds, albeit slowed, under waterlogged, anoxic conditions in the catotelm, yielding CO 2 and potentially CH 4 . Many controls on decomposition in peatlands have been identified, such as temperature, pH, and the availability of terminal electron acceptors (TEAs) for microbial processes that produce both CH 4 and CO 2 as their end products

show abstract

“…Pollen and plant macrofossils are commonly used paleobotanical analyses to a) reconstruct local and regional plant succession of peatlands and their surroundings, b) assess human or climate impact on plant communities and understand their response or resilience, and c) define pristine plant populations as reference conditions in their restoration (Speranza et al, 2000;Gałka et al, 2022b). Pollen extracted from peatlands have a well-established history of use for reconstructing paleovegetation beginning with Von Post's study of arboreal pollen in Swedish bogs (1916).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of paleobotanical and biomarker records of mountain peatland and forest ecosystem dynamics over the last 2600 years in Central Germany

Thomas

Jansen

Czerwiński

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. As peatlands are a major terrestrial sink in the global carbon cycle, gaining understanding of their development and changes throughout time is essential to predict their future carbon budget and potentially mitigate negative influences of climate change. With this aim to understand peat development, many studies have investigated the paleoecological dynamics through the analysis of various proxies, including pollen, macrofossil, elemental, and biomarker analyses. However, as each of these proxies are known to have their own benefits and limitations, examining them in parallel potentially allows for a deeper understanding of these paleoecological dynamics at the peatland and for a systematic comparison of the power of these individual proxies. In this study, we therefore analyzed soil cores from a peatland in Germany (Beerberg, Thuringia) to a) characterize the vegetation dynamics over the course of the peatland development during the late Holocene and b) evaluate to what extent the inclusion of multiple proxies, specifically pollen, macrofossil, and biomarkers, contributes to a deeper understanding of those dynamics and interaction among factors. We found that, despite a major shift in regional forest composition from primarily beech to spruce as well as many indicators of human impact in the region, the local plant population in the Beerberg area remained stable over time following the initial phase of peatland development up until the last couple of centuries. Therefore, little variation could be derived from the paleobotanical data alone. The combination of pollen and macrofossil analyses with the elemental and biomarker analyses enabled further understanding of the site development as these proxies added valuable additional information including the occurrence of climatic variations, such as the Little Ice Age, and more recent disturbances such as drainage and dust deposition.

show abstract

Insight into the factors of mountain bog and forest development in the Schwarzwald Mts.: Implications for ecological restoration

Cited by 10 publications

References 57 publications

How degraded are the peatland and forest ecosystems in the Bieszczady Mountains (Central Europe)? An assessment using long‐term records

How degraded are the peatland and forest ecosystems in the Bieszczady Mountains (Central Europe)? An assessment using long‐term records

Electron Accepting Capacities of a Wide Variety of Peat Materials From Around the Globe Similarly Explain CO₂ and CH₄ Formation

Comparison of paleobotanical and biomarker records of mountain peatland and forest ecosystem dynamics over the last 2600 years in Central Germany

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Insight into the factors of mountain bog and forest development in the Schwarzwald Mts.: Implications for ecological restoration

Cited by 10 publications

References 57 publications

How degraded are the peatland and forest ecosystems in the Bieszczady Mountains (Central Europe)? An assessment using long‐term records

How degraded are the peatland and forest ecosystems in the Bieszczady Mountains (Central Europe)? An assessment using long‐term records

Electron Accepting Capacities of a Wide Variety of Peat Materials From Around the Globe Similarly Explain CO2 and CH4 Formation

Comparison of paleobotanical and biomarker records of mountain peatland and forest ecosystem dynamics over the last 2600 years in Central Germany

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Electron Accepting Capacities of a Wide Variety of Peat Materials From Around the Globe Similarly Explain CO₂ and CH₄ Formation