The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands

Abstract

Northern peatlands have cooled the global climate by accumulating large quantities of soil carbon (C) over thousands of years. Maintaining the C sink function of these peatlands and their immense long-term soil C stores is critical for achieving net-zero global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions by 2050 to mitigate climate warming. One-quarter of the world's northern peatlands are in Canada, with these mostly intact ecosystems providing a global C service that is increasingly recognized as a critical part of naturebased solutions to combat climate change. However, land-use change and other disturbances threaten these globally important stores of "irrecoverable C" (that is, soil C lost to disturbance that will take centuries to recover). Inadequate policy safeguards to avoid conversion and degradation, and the limited quantification and reporting of peatland greenhouse-gas emissions and removals, increase the vulnerability of these peatlands. Targeted policies from local to global scales will be needed for improved decision making and incentivizing long-term C management of northern peatlands.

The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions

“…Further, studies suggest demand for horticultural peat will continue to expand to meet rising greenhouse-based food production providing additional pressure for peat extraction if alternative growing media cannot meet the demand (Blok et al 2019). Northward expansion of resource extraction will continue to put pressure on boreal and subarctic peatlands, requiring policy mechanisms that support long term peatland conservation to avoid conversion and the associated GHG emissions (Harris et al 2021). Even when protected from development, climate change-induced disturbance also places peatland C stocks at risk and this needs to be accounted for when including peatland NbS in climate change mitigation strategies (Coffield et al 2021).…”

Integrating carbon stocks and wildlife connectivity for nature-based climate solutions

“…Ontario’s soil carbon stocks are largely contained within the vast boreal peatlands of the Hudson Bay Lowlands (Harris et al, 2021; Sothe et al, 2022) which is also where our bivariate maps reveal strong spatial congruence between landscape connectivity and soil carbon storage. These carbon stores have been identified as irrecoverable at a global scale meaning they would not be recoverable within the timeframe necessary to reach net-zero (Goldstein et al, 2020; Noon et al, 2021; Packalen, Finkelstein, & McLaughlin, 2014).…”

“…Isolation of Ontario’s north has safeguarded these hotspots to date; however, soil and peat stocks are increasingly threatened by land-use and land cover changes, such as mineral extraction, draining for agriculture, peat extraction, and shrubification (Harris et al, 2021). Due to the likely irrecoverability of soil carbon in this region, its importance to wildlife, and the potential to support biodiversity in the future warmer climate, protection of these hotspots could be critically important while also being cost-effective (Cooke-Patton et al, 2021; Goldstein et al, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, Canada has committed to protecting 25% of its land area by 2025 and 30% by 2030 (ECCC, 2020; CBD Post-2020 Framework; Secretariat of the CBD, 2020). Despite having some of the largest remaining intact forests (Watson et al, 2018; Wells, Dawson, Culver, Reid, & Morgan Siegers, 2020) and peatlands (Goldstein et al, 2020; Noon et al, 2021), both of which provide globally significant carbon storage and safeguarding for biodiversity (Harris et al, 2021; Kurz et al, 2013; Stralberg, Arseneault, et al, 2020; Wells et al, 2020), only 13.5% of terrestrial lands in Canada are currently protected (ECCC, 2021). Given Canada’s climate and biodiversity commitments and the urgency for action, there is great benefit to identifying areas that maximize co-benefits of climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection when planning for new protected and conserved areas as well as ecosystem restoration priorities.…”

Protecting boreal caribou habitat can help conserve biodiversity and safeguard large quantities of soil carbon in Canada

“…As one of the largest countries by area among the Parties to the UNCBD and UNFCCC 10 , with large carbon stocks found in expansive, intact peatlands and old-growth forests 17 , 18 , Canada has the potential to influence how other governments around the globe augment and enhance their protected and conserved areas networks. Canada fell short of meeting the 2020 Aichi target by protecting < 13% 19 .…”