Premium
How strong is the current carbon sequestration of an Atlantic blanket bog?
Author(s) -
KOEHLER ANNKRISTIN,
SOTTOCORNOLA MATTEO,
KIELY GERARD
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02180.x
Subject(s) - peat , carbon sink , environmental science , bog , eddy covariance , carbon fibers , dissolved organic carbon , carbon dioxide , sink (geography) , carbon sequestration , hydrology (agriculture) , total organic carbon , flux (metallurgy) , carbon cycle , atmospheric sciences , environmental chemistry , geology , ecosystem , climate change , chemistry , oceanography , ecology , geography , materials science , composite number , composite material , biology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
Although northern peatlands cover only 3% of the land surface, their thick peat deposits contain an estimated one‐third of the world's soil organic carbon (SOC). Under a changing climate the potential of peatlands to continue sequestering carbon is unknown. This paper presents an analysis of 6 years of total carbon balance of an almost intact Atlantic blanket bog in Glencar, County Kerry, Ireland. The three components of the measured carbon balance were: the land‐atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) and the flux of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exported in a stream draining the peatland. The 6 years C balance was computed from 6 years (2003–2008) of measurements of meteorological and eddy‐covariance CO 2 fluxes, periodic chamber measurements of CH 4 fluxes over 3.5 years, and 2 years of continuous DOC flux measurements. Over the 6 years, the mean annual carbon was −29.7±30.6 (±1 SD) g C m −2 yr −1 with its components as follows: carbon in CO 2 was a sink of −47.8±30.0 g C m −2 yr −1 ; carbon in CH 4 was a source of 4.1±0.5 g C m −2 yr −1 and the carbon exported as stream DOC was a source of 14.0±1.6 g C m −2 yr −1 . For 2 out of the 6 years, the site was a source of carbon with the sum of CH 4 and DOC flux exceeding the carbon sequestered as CO 2 . The average C balance for the 6 years corresponds to an average annual growth rate of the peatland surface of 1.3 mm yr −1 .