The 1949 Atlas of French peat deposits,a starting point for a national inventory of peatlands

Fifty per cent of European peatlands are in a damaged state. While intact peatlands are natural carbon sinks, degraded sites release important amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Restoration of the hydrological functionality of peatlands has proved to be an efficient tool to avoid these emissions. In France, Tuffnell & Bignon's ministerial report (2019) emphasized the need for peatlands ‘integration into the National Low Carbon Strategy, targeting carbon neutrality by 2050. However, current knowledge regarding French peatlands’ distribution and carbon stocks is insufficient and does not allow decision makers and managers to prioritize areas for restoration. The most complete database to date is the 1949 Atlas, an inventory of exploitable peat deposits that was conducted during WWII for peat exploitation as fuel. Until its digitalization, the latter database was archived and never used in a scientific study. It provides detailed information about peatland surfaces, peat thicknesses and carbon contents at that time. We estimated peat carbon stocks from French peatlands to be 111 Mt C in 1949 for 63,290 ha identified as peaty sites, the equivalent of 3% of the organic carbon contained in the upper 30 centimetres of French soils. 34% of this stock was held in Lower Normandy (37.7 Mt C) and 12% in the Picardy's region (13.0 Mt C), in large lowland peatlands. However, not all peatlands were prospected in the 1949 inventory and the characteristics of the prospected peatlands may have changed with anthropic disturbances of the last decades, such as draining or climate change. These first results highlight the need for a recent inventory of French peatlands and carbon stocks based on local data aggregation. Data from the 1949 Atlas could help constituting this new inventory but should be validated before being used to describe the present.     

北方泥炭地甲烷排放研究: 综述

Northern peatlands store a large amount of carbon and play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. Owing to the presence of waterlogged and anaerobic conditions, peatlands are typically a source of methane (CH₄), a very potent greenhouse gas. This paper reviews the key mechanisms of peatland CH₄ production, consumption and transport and the major environmental and biotic controls on peatland CH₄ emissions. The advantages and disadvantages of micrometeorological and chamber methods in measuring CH₄ fluxes from northern peatlands are also discussed. The magnitude of CH₄ flux varies considerably among peatland types (bogs and fens) and microtopographic locations (hummocks and hollows). Some anthropogenic activities including forestry, peat harvesting and industrial emission of sulphur dioxide can cause a reduction in CH₄ release from northern peatlands. Further research should be conducted to investigate the in fluence of plant growth forms on CH₄ flux from northern peatlands, determine the water table threshold at which plant production in peatlands enhances CH₄ release, and quantify peatland CH₄ exchange at plant community level with a higher temporal resolution using automatic chambers.     

Nutrient and trace element concentrations influence greenhouse gas emissions from Malaysian tropical peatlands

Tropical peatlands are unique and globally important ecosystems for carbon storage that are generally considered nutrient poor. However, different nutrient and trace element concentrations in these complex ecosystems and their interactions with carbon emissions are largely unknown. The objective of this research was to explore the concentrations of macro‐ and micronutrients and othertrace elements in surface peats, and their relationship with greenhouse gas emissions in North Selangor peatlands subjected to different land use. All nutrient and trace element concentrations except chromium exhibited significant differences between sites. Most macronutrients and some micronutrients showed significant differences between seasons, typically with a reduction over time from wet to dry seasons, possibly due to leaching. CO₂ emissions were positively related to organic matter content and manganese concentrations and negatively correlated with selenium. CH₄ emissions were positively correlated with organic matter content, manganese, copper, barium, cobalt and aluminium, and negatively correlated with molybdenum, selenium, lithium and vanadium. This research has detected loss of essential nutrients over time, aiding to increase nutrient limitation in tropical peatlands due to drainage. The observed significant correlation between trace elements and greenhouse gas emissions strengthens the importance of including trace element analyses in understanding the biogeochemical functions of these understudied peatlands.     

Project ‘Telma’: A scientific framework for conserving the world's peatlands

The world's peat resources are diminishing rapidly—a fact that is causing anxiety in some countries. Project ‘Telma’, initiated by IUCN and IBP, is concerned with international cooperation in the conservation of peatlands (mires). Because peatlands play a key rôle in certain biogeochemical cycles (especially the hydrological and carbon cycles), interest is being expressed in the part they may have in maintaining ecological balance in some regions, and thus in the need for a conservation policy for peatlands. But further research is required on this function of peatlands. However, the scientific argument for conserving them is more definitive and is largely based on the fact that they comprise an important source of ecological information. Some of the diversity and intrinsic importance of this information is demonstrated by studies of the European sub-group of boreal mires. The Telma classification was devised as a framework for gathering information for preparing lists of sites of international significance for science and education.     

Regional significance of peatlands for avifaunal diversity in southern Québec

Altough peatlands in southern Québec are facing increasing pressure, neither specific nor substantial protection measures have been implemented, partly due to a lack of information on this ecosystem. We determined the contribution of peatlands to bird regional diversity by measuring the difference between peatland and associated regional avifaunas. We sampled 112 peatlands located along the Saint Lawrence River during one breeding season. We used data on regional nesting bird assemblages from the Québec breeding bird atlas. Peatland bird species contrasted increasingly with regional avifauna from north to south or from undisturbed to managed landscapes. Of the 17 bird species found significantly more often in peatlands than in surroundings, some preferred peatlands in the whole study area and others preferred peatlands only in particular regions. Peatland avifaunas within regions were more similar to each other than to their regional avifauna, and differences between regions probably reflected changes in peatland physiognomy. We conclude that peatlands contribute to enrich local and regional avian diversity, particularly in the lowlands of the Saint Lawrence River, where industrial pressure on peatlands is highest.     

The Structure of Microbial Communities in Soils of Noncryogenic Regressive Bog

Eurasian Soil Science - Regressive development is widespread in peatlands of the northern hemisphere; a new type of peatlands—regressive bogs—should be introduced in addition to the...     

泥炭湿地碳储量核算与其影响因素分析

泥炭湿地占全球陆地表面积的2%~3%和全球湿地面积的40%~70%,却存储3.0×1017~6.0×1017g碳。以前有关泥炭湿地碳储量的研究主要偏重于土壤,尤其在北方,缺乏对植被和枯枝落叶层的综合报道。本文综述了近些年来全球泥炭地碳储量(土壤碳储量、植被碳储量和枯枝落叶层碳储量)核算的研究进展。目前,全球泥炭地碳储量的核算仍存在较大的不确定性,其主要原因是全球泥炭地碳储量核算方法的数据信息不足,缺乏植被生物量、地表凋落物、碳质量分数、深度、容重和面积等全面数据,尤其是关于全球泥炭地面积较大的地区或国家;其次,人为干扰活动也进一步增加了全球泥炭地碳储量估算的不确定性,使得碳储量估算变得更困难。我国湿地面积居亚洲第一,世界第四,然而泥炭地/湿地有机碳储量估算与其他国家比较,相差较大,数据信息不足且存在较大波动。因此,为了提高泥炭湿地碳储量的估计精度和预测陆地生态系统应对气候变化响应机制的准确性,进一步加大泥炭地碳储量研究是非常必要的。     

Peatland Interstitial Water Chemistry in Relation to that of Surface Pools along a Peatland Mineral Gradient

The elemental (including silica (Si), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe)) and nutrient composition of peatland surface pools and concentrations of Ca, Mg, Mn, and Fein peat interstitial waters and surface peat concentrations of oxides of Mn and Fe were determined for 15 peatlands sampled along a mineral gradient. Surface pool concentrations of Si wereca. ten fold less in surface pools of mineral-poor peatlands thanin the mineral rich, supporting the use of this element as an indicator of minerotrophic influence in peatlands. Principle component analysis of surface pool water chemistry parametersdifferentiated mineral-poor and moderately-poor peatlands frommineral-rich peatlands based on the concentrations of Ca, Mgand alkalinity of pools. Several lines of evidence indicated that peatland interstitial waters were important contributors to peatland alkalinity and included; (1) maximum interstitial water concentrations of Ca and Mg correlating with overlying surface pool alkalinity, (2) a negative correlation between interstitial water Ca:Mg ratios and surface pool concentrationsof Si and (3) Ca:Mg ratios of moderately-poor to mineral-poorpeatland interstitial waters approaching the Ca:Mg ratio of rainwater rather than those of bedrock. Interstitial water concentrations of dissolved Mn and Fe correlated with amountsof reducible Fe and Mn (oxides of Fe and Mn) recovered from thepeat/water interface indicating that groundwater inputs areimportant sources of these two elements to fens. As a consequence, for peatlands that are not truly ombrotrophic,groundwater inputs of Mn and Fe may interfere with interpretingpeat metal profiles thought to be due to anthropogenic inputs alone.     

BASE CATION COMPOSITION OF PORE WATER,PEAT AND POOL WATER OF FIFTEEN ONTARIO PEATLANDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR PEATLAND ACIDIFICATION

Base cation (Ca, Mg, Na, K) concentrations in surface waters, pore waters and surface peats were determined along a mineral-poor to mineral-rich fen gradient for 15 south-central Ontario peatlands. Surface waters of the peatlands ranged in pH and alkalinity from 4.5 to 6.3 and 0 to 181 μeqL^-1, respectively. Both surface water and pore water Ca and Mg concentrations followed the expected decrease along the mineral-rich to poor-fen gradient. Surface water concentrations of Ca and Mg were significantly lower in the mineral-poor versus the moderately-poor and mineral-rich fens (P <0.05, ANOVA). Pore water concentrations of base cations were 3–5 fold less in mineral-poor vs. mineral-rich fens. In contrast to surface and pore waters, peat base cation concentrations did not decrease along the mineral-rich to mineral-poor fen gradient. Surface peat base cation concentrations were also independent of pore water cation concentrations, and local bedrock geology. Relative concentrations of base cations in surface peats of all peatlands were best described by the exchangeable cation capacity of the surrounding soils.     

Estimating the carbon stock of a blanket peat region using a peat depth inference model

At the global scale peatlands are an important soil organic carbon (SOC) pool. They sequester, store and emit carbon dioxide and methane and have a large carbon content per unit area. In Ireland, peatlands cover between 17% and 20% of the land area and contain a significant, but poorly quantified amount of SOC. Peatlands may function as a persistent sink for atmospheric CO₂. In Ireland the detailed information that is required to calculate the peatland SOC pool, such as peat depth, area and carbon density, is inconsistent in quality and coverage. The objective of this research was to develop an improved method for estimating the depth of blanket peat from elevation, slope and disturbance data to allow more accurate estimations of the SOC pool for blanket peatlands. The model was formulated to predict peat depth at a resolution of 100 ha (1 km²). The model correctly captured the trend and accounted for 58 to 63% of the observed variation in peat depth in the Wicklow Mountains on the east coast of Ireland. Given that the surface of a blanket peatland masks unknown undulations at the mineral/peat interface this was a successful outcome. Using the peat depth model, it was estimated that blanket peatland in the Wicklow Mountains contained 2.30 Mt of carbon. This compares to the previously published values ranging from 0.45 Mt C to 2.18 Mt C.     

INFLUENCE OF PEATLANDS ON THE ACIDITY OF LAKES IN NORTHEASTERN ALBERTA,CANADA

About a third of the lakes surveyed in the Birch Mountains Upland of northeastern Alberta, Canada, have pH below 7.0; 25% have alkalinities below 10 mg/L identifying them as acid-sensitive following criteria established by the National Research Council of Canada (1981). Lakes in this region vary greatly as to surface area and depth. Watersheds also vary in area and in amount of peatland cover. Peatlands in the form of peat plateaus and collapse scars, continental bogs, treed and open fens, and shallow organic deposits cover over 50% of some watersheds. Surface water chemistries of these peatlands form three distinct classes: bogs, poor fens and shallow organic deposits. The acidity of certain lakes in this northern area is best explained by effects from high cover ofSphagnum-dominated peatlands in surrounding watersheds. Due to greater flow-through, poor fens appear to be more important than bogs in affecting the acidity of associated lakes.     

The problem of fire control on drained peatlands and its solution

Fires on drained peatlands arise as a result of lowering of the groundwater table and the rupture of its capillary fringe from the peat soil horizons. Fires destroy the most fertile soils of the nonchernozemic region, adversely affect the diversity and species composition of the biota and the work of transport, and cause diseases and the death of people. A set of preventive measures against fires on the drained peatlands is proposed. It is important to use these soils only for meadow grass cultivation with rotations enriched in perennial grasses. No cases of “black” crop growing are possible on peatlands. The reclamation of peat soils should be implemented only with the bilateral regulation of the water regime. An optimal system of increasing the fertility of drained peat soils should be applied; their use should also be accompanied by sanding.     

Within-site habitat configuration in reserve design: A case study with a peatland bird

This study assesses the effects of considering within-site habitat configuration when designing reserve networks. This attribute takes all its importance in situations where the long-term integrity of (within-site) habitat patches cannot be preserved without protecting their surrounding environment. We addressed this issue through the concrete problem of selecting a reserve network of natural peatlands in southern Québec, Canada. We used a reserve-selection algorithm that minimized the total number of peatlands to include within networks. The algorithm was constrained to include peatlands containing habitat patches that met specific size thresholds. Five habitat-clustering thresholds were used to set the eligibility of each site to the selection process. The resulting reserve networks were evaluated according to their representation efficiency and to the expected consequences for the Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum), an area and isolation-sensitive bird restricted to peatlands in southern Québec.Constraining the algorithm to include peatlands showing increasingly larger patches of habitats led to larger networks, both in terms of area and number of sites, and to networks composed of smaller sites. These effects increased with the representation target (i.e., the % of each habitat preserved). With respect to the Palm Warbler, selecting peatlands with larger patches of habitats had only an indirect effect on its site-occupancy pattern. Indeed, despite the fact that the probability of occurrence of the warbler was negatively correlated with the size of habitat patches, the habitat-clustering threshold influenced the incidence of the warbler mainly via its effect on the physical attributes of the selected networks - including the area, isolation level, and the number of selected sites. Because increasing the habitat-clustering threshold led indirectly to a greater regional availability of prime breeding habitats for the Palm Warbler, it mitigated the severe negative impact of an hypothetical alteration or destruction of non-selected peatlands. Our study thus emphasizes the importance of determining how the different factors describing within-site configuration are correlated with other intrinsic characteristics of the sites available to the selection process before opting for a site-selection strategy.     

Effects of sulfate deposition on pore water dissolved organic carbon,nutrients, and microbial enzyme activities in a northern peatland

Export of dissolved organic carbon from lakes and streams has increased throughout Europe and North America over the past several decades. One possible cause is altered deposition chemistry; specifically, decreasing sulfate inputs leading to changes in ionic strength and dissolved organic carbon solubility. To further investigate the relationship between deposition chemistry and dissolved organic carbon export in peatlands, a field experiment was conducted to compare the pore water chemistry and peat microbial enzyme activity of mesocosms receiving sulfate amendments to mesocosms receiving no additions. To consider how peatlands respond during recovery from increased inputs of sulfate, samples were also analyzed from an area of the same peatland that was previously amended with sulfate. Current additions of sulfate decreased dissolved organic carbon concentration and increased dissolved organic carbon aromaticity. Total dissolved phosphorus decreased in response to current sulfate amendments but was elevated in the area of the peatland recovering from sulfate amendment. The total dissolved phosphorus increase, which was reflected in microbial enzyme activity, may have shifted the system from P limitation to N limitation. This shift could have important consequences for ecosystem processes related to plant and microbial communities. It also suggests that the recovery from previous sulfate amendments may take longer than may be expected.     

Carbon emission flux and storage in the degraded peatlands of the Zoige alpine area in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

The Zoige alpine peatlands cover approximately 4,605 km² of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and are considered to constitute the largest plateau peatland on the Eurasian continent. However, the Zoige alpine peatlands are undergoing major degradation because of human activities and climate change, which would cause uncertainty in the budget of greenhouse gases (CH₄ and CO₂) and carbon (C) storage in global peatlands. This study simultaneously investigates the CH₄ and CO₂ emission fluxes and C storage at three typical sites with respect to the peatland degradation gradient: peatland, wet meadow and dry meadow. Results show that peatland degradation would increase the CO₂ emission and decrease the CH₄ emission. Moreover, the average C emission fluxes were 66.05, 165.78 and 326.56 mg C m^?2 hr^?1 for the peatland, wet meadow and dry meadow, respectively. The C storage of the vegetation does not considerably differ among the three sampling sites. However, when compared with the peatland (1,088.17 t C ha^?1), the soil organic C storage decreases by 420 and 570 t C ha^?1 in case of wet and dry meadows, respectively. Although the C storage in the degraded peatlands decreases considerably, it can still represent a large capacity of C sink. Therefore, the degraded peatlands in the Zoige alpine area must be protected and restored to mitigate regional climate change.     

Mercury in soils,sediments, and clams from a North Carolina peatland

Mercury concentrations were measured in samples of peat soils, sediments and clams (Rangia cuneata) from a peatland region of the Albemarle-Panlico Peninsula of North Carolina. Total Hg concentrations in peat cores ranged from 40 to 193 ng g^?1 (dw); no depth-related trends were noted. Mercury concentrations in surface sediments from canals draining the peatlands and from the Pungo River that receives this drainage ranged from 8 to 20 ng g^?1 (dw). Selective extractions of these peat and sediment samples revealed that the bulk of the Hg was associated with organic matter-associated fractions (particularly humic/fulvic acid bound and organic-sulfide bound fractions). No Hg was detected in the relatively mobile and bioavailable water-soluble or ion-exchangeable fractions. Total Hg concentrations in the soft tissues of clams from the Pungo River ranged from 25 to 32 ng g^?1 (ww). No concentrations of methyl Hg above the detection limit of a 25 ng g^?1 were measured in soils, sediments, or clams. These data indicate that Hg concentrations in this region are at the low end of the distribution of levels reported for uncontaminated systems and that mining of these peatlands is unlikely to significantly elevate Hg concentrations in the receiving estuarine system.     

Decomposition in peatlands: Reconciling seemingly contrasting results on the impacts of lowered water levels

Northern peatlands represent about 30% of the global soil C pools. The C pool in peat is a result of a relatively small imbalance between production and decay. High water levels and the consequent anoxia are considered the major causes for the imbalance. As such, the C sink of a peatland is labile, and sensitive to disturbances in environmental conditions.Changes in peatland ecosystem functions may be mediated through land-use change, and/or climatic warming. In both cases, lowering of the water level may be the key factor. Logically, lowered water levels with the consequent increase in oxygen availability in the surface soil may be assumed to result in accelerated rates of organic matter decomposition. Yet, earlier research has given highly contrasting results concerning the effects of lowered water levels on the rates of decomposition and the C sink/source behaviour of peatlands. The mechanisms controlling this variation remain unresolved.This paper summarizes the changes observed in the biotic and abiotic controls of decomposition following natural or artificial lowering of peatland water levels and show that they are complex and their interactions have not been previously explored. Long-term changes in the C cycle may differ from short-term changes. Short-term changes represent a disturbance in the ecosystem adapted to the pre-water-level-lowering conditions, while long-term changes result from several adaptive mechanisms of the ecosystem to the new hydrological regime. While in a short term, the disturbed system will always lose C, the long-term changes inherently vary among peatland types, climates, and extents of change in the water level. The paper closes by identifying the gaps in our knowledge that need to be addressed when proceeding towards a causal and unifying explanation for the C sink/source behaviour of peatlands following persistent lowering of the water level.     

Carbon loss in drained forestry peatlands in Finland,estimated by re‐sampling peatlands surveyed in the 1980s

The total area of boreal peatlands is about 3.5 million km² and they are estimated to contain 15–30% of the global soil carbon (C) storage. In Finland, about 60 000 km², or 60% of the original peatland area, has been drained, mainly for forestry improvement. We have studied C inventory changes on forestry‐drained peatlands by re‐sampling the peat stratum in 2009 at the precise locations of quantitative peat mass analyses conducted as part of peatland transect surveys during the 1980s. The old and new profiles were correlated mainly by their ignition residue stratigraphies; at each site we determined a reference level, identifiable in both profiles, and calculated the cumulative dry mass and C inventories above it. Comparison of a total of 37 locations revealed broad variation, from slight increase to marked decrease; on average the 2009 results indicate a loss of 7.4 (SE ± 2.5) kg m^?2 dry peat mass when compared with the 1980s values. Expressed on an annual basis, the results indicate an average net loss of 150 g C m^?2 year^?1 from the soil of drained forestry peatlands in the central parts of Finland. The C balance appeared not to correlate with site fertility (fertility classes according to original vegetation type), nor with post‐drainage timber growth.     

Long-term effects of deer browsing and trampling on the vegetation of peatlands

Overabundance of wild ungulates, especially exotic species, is a major threat to several ecosystems worldwide. While the response of forest vegetation to high density of herbivores has been well studied, far less is known about peatland vegetation. In this paper, we assessed the long term impact of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on plant communities of ombrotrophic (bog) and minerotrophic (fen) peatlands in eastern North America. Vegetation of five peatlands that have experienced high deer densities for at least 75 years was compared with that of five peatlands situated at proximity but on deer-free islands. We investigated deer impacts on plant species composition and cover, shrub height and cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) fruit/flower production and morphology. In bogs, white-tailed deer had no long-term impact on plant species assemblages, but reduced lichen cover and increased sedges and grasses cover as well as the surface area of bare peat. On the other hand, the floristic composition of fens differed significantly between sites where deer were present or absent. Plant diversity was greater in undisturbed fens than in disturbed fens, especially for shrubs, sedges and liverworts. No detrimental effects of browsing on shrub height were observed. Conversely, deer browsing seemed to have deleterious impacts on cloudberry fruit/flower production as well as on the number of leaves per individual. Overall, our results suggest that white-tailed deer had some important impacts on the vegetation of peatlands that could be harmful for the long-term conservation of peatland plant diversity.     

Actinomycete Complexes in Eutrophic Peatlands

Eurasian Soil Science - The actinomycete complexes of eutrophic peatlands differing by genesis were studied in order to broaden the knowledge of microorganisms’ biodiversity in wetland...