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The complete carbon budget of a drained peat catchment
Author(s) -
Rowson J. G.,
Gibson H. S.,
Worrall F.,
Ostle N.,
Burt T. P.,
Adamson J. K.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2010.00274.x
Subject(s) - peat , drainage basin , environmental science , carbon cycle , carbon fibers , carbon dioxide , dissolved organic carbon , hydrology (agriculture) , carbon sink , total organic carbon , soil carbon , primary production , ecosystem , tonne , atmosphere (unit) , environmental chemistry , soil water , soil science , chemistry , geology , ecology , biology , materials science , cartography , geotechnical engineering , physics , composite number , composite material , geography , thermodynamics , organic chemistry
This study measures the complete carbon budget of a drained peat‐covered catchment. It includes dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved CO 2 , primary pro‐ductivity, soil respiration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) in contrast to other studies which have focused on only some of the possible carbon uptake and release pathways; values for rainfall inputs were taken from a nearby catchment. The study is based on data collected over 2 yr for two drain catchments within one site and the main findings are: 1. The catchments were a net source of all forms of carbon at between +63.8 and +106.8 Mg C/km 2 /yr; 2. There was a net loss of between +9.3 and +40.7 Mg C/km 2 /yr in terms of exchange of carbon with the atmosphere; 3. The small size of the study catchments seems to have resulted in higher values of exported DOC than recorded elsewhere and the highly disturbed drainage of the site may have given rise to losses in net ecosystem exchange (NEE). If the fate of the peatland carbon store is to be understood, then it is important that all carbon uptake and release pathways are considered and not just components of the carbon cycle.