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Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance of a Peat Bog Undergoing Restoration: Integrating CO 2 and CH 4 Fluxes From Eddy Covariance and Aquatic Evasion With DOC Drainage Fluxes
Author(s) -
D′Acunha Brenda,
Morillas Laura,
Black T. Andrew,
Christen Andreas,
Johnson Mark S.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: biogeosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8961
pISSN - 2169-8953
DOI - 10.1029/2019jg005123
Subject(s) - eddy covariance , ecosystem , environmental science , ecosystem respiration , dissolved organic carbon , peat , hydrology (agriculture) , bog , primary production , water balance , atmospheric sciences , ecology , environmental chemistry , chemistry , geology , biology , geotechnical engineering
Peatland ecosystems are generally carbon (C) sinks. However, the role of dissolved organic C (DOC) relative to gaseous fluxes of CO 2 and CH 4 in the C balance of these ecosystems has not often been studied. Dissolved C fluxes are important for understanding C partitioning within the peatland and the potential C drainage from it. This research was conducted in Burns Bog, a heavily impacted ecosystem near Vancouver, Canada, undergoing ecological restoration efforts by rewetting. Here we present data on (i) ecosystem‐scale fluxes of CO 2 (net ecosystem exchange, NEE) and CH 4 (FCH 4 ) determined by eddy covariance, (ii) evasion fluxes of CO 2 and CH 4 from the water surface to estimate the role of open water in ecosystem‐scale fluxes, and (iii) DOC flux (fDOC) in water draining from the peatland. Our results showed that open water areas inside the footprint were a continual C source, emitting 47.0 ± 2.4 g C·m −2 ·year −1 . DOC export (15.6 g C·m −2 ·year −1 ) was significant to the net ecosystem C balance, decreasing the magnitude of the eddy covariance‐determined C balance (i.e., NEE + FCH 4 ) of −45.0 ± 16.8 g C·m −2 ·year −1 by 35%, resulting in a net ecosystem C balance (i.e., NEE + FCH 4 + fDOC) of −29.7 ± 17.0 g C·m −2 ·year −1 . Most of this offset occurred during the wetter nongrowing season when gross primary production was low and fDOC was relatively high.