Open AccessSurveying hydrology, ecology and climate effects of northern peatlands
Author(s) -
Slater Lee,
Comas Xavier,
Reeve Andrew,
Jol Harry
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2007eo420008
Subject(s) - peat , bog , environmental science , wetland , carbon cycle , hydrology (agriculture) , carbon sink , atmosphere (unit) , earth science , physical geography , climate change , ecology , geography , geology , ecosystem , meteorology , geotechnical engineering , biology
Northern peatlands comprise the largest wetland complex worldwide, covering approximately 4 million square kilometers across Eurasia and North America. They form a critical component of the global carbon (C) cycle by acting as net sources of CH 4 but net sinks of CO 2 . Studies of northern peatlands have increased in recent years due to uncertainties in (1) mechanisms and rates of carbon gas exchange between peatlands and the atmosphere, and (2) the effect of northernlatitude climate warming on peatlandatmosphere carbon gas fluxes. New technologies are required to evaluate the volume of carbon stored in peatlands, spatial patterns of free phase gas production, and temporal variability in gas exchange to the atmosphere. The Division of Earth Sciences of the U.S. National Science Foundation funded a 5‐day, field‐based, intensive workshop focused on engaging the community in addressing key peatlands science challenges through near‐surface geophysical methods. The workshop was based at the University of Maine, in Orono, and used nearby Caribou Bog, a field site instrumented for hydrological and geophysical research.