The response of peatlands to climate warming: A review

Bu, Zhao‐Jun; Joosten, Hans; Li, Hongkai; Zhao, Guosong; Zheng, Xing-Xing; Ma, Jinze; Zeng, Jiye

doi:10.1016/j.chnaes.2011.03.006

Cited by 45 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Woody shrubs and trees, which generally require aerobic peat (Bubier et al., ; Päivänen, ; Talbot, Richard, Roulet, & Booth, ), colonized newly available growing space and eventually created a canopy over the ground vegetation. The positive biotic feedback in fens was enhanced by the increased mineralization of nutrients following drainage found in our study site (Straková et al., , ; Appendix : Table S1.1) and in other peatlands (Bu et al., ), providing increasing resources to colonizing plants. As this new canopy layer increases in height and density, it further changes surface conditions by reducing light levels, air, surface and peat temperature and wind speeds, and increasing relative humidity (Minkkinen et al., ; Rannik et al., ;; Straková et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…Woody shrubs and trees, which generally require aerobic peat (Bubier et al, 2006;Päivänen, 1974;Talbot, Richard, Roulet, & Booth, 2010), colonized newly available growing space and eventually created a canopy over the ground vegetation. The positive biotic feedback in fens was enhanced by the increased mineralization of nutrients following drainage found in our study site (Straková et al, 2010(Straková et al, , 2012; Appendix S2: Table S1.1) and in other peatlands (Bu et al, 2011), providing increasing resources to colonizing plants.…”

Section: Secondary Impact Of Wldmentioning

confidence: 76%

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Responses of peatland vegetation to 15‐year water level drawdown as mediated by fertility level

Kokkonen

Laine

et al. 2019

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Peatland ecosystems are a globally important carbon storage that is predicted to turn into a carbon source due to water level drawdown (WLD) associated with climate change. The predictions assume stable plant communities but how realistic is this assumption? If the vegetation is not stable, what are the nature and rate of changes? Location Peatland complex in Southern Finland. Methods We conducted a water level drawdown (WLD of ~10 cm) experiment over 17 years in three peatland types differing in their fertility. On each peatland type, we included an adjacent forestry drained (FD, with water table ca. 40 cm lower than in control) area for comparison. Results Peatland type had a clear impact on the response to WLD: at the ecosystem level, the two minerotrophic fens underwent rapid species turnover, while the vegetation in nutrient‐poor bog was more resilient to change. In nutrient‐rich sites, WLD initiated tree canopy development and created understorey conditions that strengthened impact of WLD. In nutrient‐poor site, tree establishment was seen only in the FD area. In addition to high nutrient level, high wetness accelerated change at the plant community level, where we found three types of responses: accelerating change, decelerating change, and stability. Succession resulted in an overall loss of community heterogeneity. Conclusions Interaction between hydrology, nutrient availability, and biological factors in boreal peatlands is important: the drop in water table required to achieve the shift from open peatland to forested system is inversely proportional to the nutrient level of the system. The results suggest that predictive models of peatland functions under climate change should consider compositional change for fens and their diverse plant communities but are more realistic for bogs. The response of bog vegetation to climate change may, however, be more dependent on changes in rainfall regime and therefore needs to be further addressed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Secondary Impact Of Wldmentioning

confidence: 76%

Responses of peatland vegetation to 15‐year water level drawdown as mediated by fertility level

Kokkonen

Laine

et al. 2019

J Vegetation Science

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“…However, the strength of the future peatland C sink potential has been questioned given predicted changes in climatic patterns (Oechel et al 1993, Christensen et al (1999, IPCC 2007, Dise 2009). Since the vertical exchange of CO 2 accounts for most of the magnitude and variability of the peatland C balance (Roulet et al 2007, Koehler et al 2011, its sensitivity to abiotic controls and the implications for the future peatland C balance has become of great interest in recent years (Bu et al 2011, Dise 2009, Fenner and Freeman 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 12-year record reveals pre-growing season temperature and water table level threshold effects on the net carbon dioxide exchange in a boreal fen

Peichl

Öquist

Löfvenius

et al. 2014

Environ. Res. Lett.

116

140

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This study uses a 12-year time series (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012) of eddy covariance measurements to investigate the long-term net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and interannual variations in relation to abiotic drivers in a boreal fen in northern Sweden. The peatland was a sink for atmospheric CO 2 in each of the twelve study years with a 12-year average (± standard deviation) NEE of −58 ± 21 g C m −2 yr −1 . For ten out of twelve years, the cumulative annual NEE was within a range of −42 to −79 g C m −2 yr −1 suggesting a general state of resilience of NEE to moderate inter-annual climate variations. However, the annual NEE of −18 and −106 g C m −2 yr −1 in 2006 and 2008, respectively, diverged considerably from this common range. The lower annual CO 2 uptake in 2006 was mainly due to late summer emissions related to an exceptional drop in water table level (WTL). A positive relationship (R 2 = 0.65) between pregrowing season (January to April) air temperature (Ta) and summer (June to July) gross ecosystem production (GEP) was observed. We suggest that enhanced GEP due to mild pregrowing season air temperature in combination with air temperature constraints on ecosystem respiration (ER) during the following cooler summer explained most of the greater net CO 2 uptake in 2008. Differences in the annual and growing season means of other abiotic variables (e.g. radiation, vapor pressure deficit, precipitation) and growing season properties (i.e. start date, end date, length) were unable to explain the inter-annual variations of NEE. Overall, our findings suggest that this boreal fen acts as a persistent contemporary sink for atmospheric CO 2 that is, however, susceptible to severe anomalies in WTL and pre-growing season air temperature associated with predicted changes in climate patterns for the boreal region.

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“…The watertable drawdown then enhances peat oxidation and accelerates peat decomposition or mineralisation, leading to peat subsidence and higher carbon emissions release (Mäkiranta et al, 2009;Bu et al, 2011;Rydin & Jeglum, 2013).…”

Section: 221! Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

An assessment of the restoration efforts of degraded peatland in central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Dohong¹

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Indonesia's tropical peatlands are an ecosystem of global significance. They contain immense stores of carbon and play a key role in regional and global climate systems. They provide habitat for iconic species such as the orangutan and Sumatran tiger, and they sustain the livelihoods of thousands of local people. Despite these values, Indonesia's peatland ecosystems have been subject to extensive deforestation and degradation during the past two decades. Recurrent peatland fires related to these land use activities have caused smoke pollution across the region, resulting in substantial public health issues and political controversy. More than 50% of the nation's 21 Mha of peatland can be considered as degraded. There is an urgent need to slow the rate of peatland degradation in Indonesia and to effectively restore the vast areas already damaged. A key consideration in this challenge is that tropical peatland restoration is an emerging field of scientific inquiry and little research has been published on the factors that constitute and influence successful restoration of tropical peatland ecosystems.This thesis addresses this gap in the broader ecosystem restoration literature by focusing on a case study of the so-called "Ex-Mega Rice Project" area of Central Kalimantan (an area previously subject to extensive degradation) and examining how successful peatland restoration can be achieved in Indonesia by: (1) reviewing the drivers of peatland degradation in the country in order to better understand the competing interests and broader socioecological context in which restoration activities need to be carried out; (2) studying previous restoration initiatives in Indonesia to better understand the restoration techniques used and the factors influencing their relative effectiveness; (3) analysing the specific tropical peatland restoration technique of "re-wetting" to better understand which elements of the technique best support effective restoration outcomes; (4) analysing the specific issue of illegal oil palm development on Indonesian peatland, including a consideration of what sorts of interventions are required to halt illegal oil palm development and control the associated recurrent fires that have been shown to substantially constrain the effectiveness of restoration initiatives; and (5) presenting an overarching conceptual framework of the factors that influence effective peatland restoration, which can be used by policy makers to devise restoration interventions that should have a greater probability of success.The drivers of peatland degradation in Indonesia can be categorised as direct and indirect. Direct drivers include logging, oil palm development and recurrent fires (mostly caused by large-and smallscale land use activities). Indirect drivers include climate change, the poverty and employment needs ii of local people, and the ineffective and sometimes perversely counter-productive land use governance systems.Techniques previously used to restore peatlands in Indonesia include rewetting through ...

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The response of peatlands to climate warming: A review

Cited by 45 publications

References 62 publications

Responses of peatland vegetation to 15‐year water level drawdown as mediated by fertility level

Responses of peatland vegetation to 15‐year water level drawdown as mediated by fertility level

A 12-year record reveals pre-growing season temperature and water table level threshold effects on the net carbon dioxide exchange in a boreal fen

An assessment of the restoration efforts of degraded peatland in central Kalimantan, Indonesia

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