Northern peatland carbon stocks and dynamics: a review

Abstract. Peatlands contain a large belowground carbon (C) stock in the biosphere, and their dynamics have important implications for the global carbon cycle. However, there are still large uncertainties in C stock estimates and poor understanding of C dynamics across timescales. Here I review different approaches and associated uncertainties of C stock estimates in the literature, and on the basis of the literature review my best estimate of C stocks and uncertainty is 500 ± 100 (approximate range) gigatons of C (Gt C) in northern peatlands. The greatest source of uncertainty for all the approaches is the lack or insufficient representation of data, including depth, bulk density and carbon accumulation data, especially from the world's large peatlands. Several ways to improve estimates of peat carbon stocks are also discussed in this paper, including the estimates of C stocks by regions and further utilizations of widely available basal peat ages. Changes in peatland carbon stocks over time, estimated using Sphagnum (peat moss) spore data and down-core peat accumulation records, show different patterns during the Holocene, and I argue that spore-based approach underestimates the abundance of peatlands in their early histories. Considering long-term peat decomposition using peat accumulation data allows estimates of net carbon sequestration rates by peatlands, or net (ecosystem) carbon balance (NECB), which indicates more than half of peat carbon (> 270 Gt C) was sequestrated before 7000 yr ago during the Holocene. Contemporary carbon flux studies at 5 peatland sites show much larger NECB during the last decade (32 ± 7.8 (S.E.) g C m−2 yr–1) than during the last 7000 yr (∼ 11 g C m−2 yr–1), as modeled from peat records across northern peatlands. This discrepancy highlights the urgent need for carbon accumulation data and process understanding, especially at decadal and centennial timescales, that would bridge current knowledge gaps and facilitate comparisons of NECB across all timescales.

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Northern peatland carbon stocks and dynamics: a review

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-9-5073-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 5073-5107 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Z. Yu

Keyword(s):

Current Knowledge ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Carbon Accumulation ◽

Peat Moss ◽

Peat Accumulation ◽

The Holocene ◽

Sphagnum Peat Moss ◽

Process Understanding ◽

Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance ◽

Northern Peatlands

Abstract. Here I review different approaches and associated uncertainties of estimates in the literature of carbon stocks and found that there is most likely 500 (± 100 range) gigatons of carbon (Gt C) in northern peatlands. The greatest uncertainty for all the approaches is the lack or insufficient representation of data, including depth, bulk density and carbon accumulation data, especially from the world's large peatlands. Several ways to improve estimates of peat carbon stocks were also discussed in this paper. Changes in peatland carbon stocks over time, estimated using Sphagnum (peat moss) spore data and down-core peat accumulation records, show different patterns during the Holocene. Considering long-term peat decomposition using peat accumulation data allows estimates of net carbon sequestration rates by peatlands, or net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB), which indicates more than half of peat carbon (> 270 Gt C) was sequestrated before 7000 yr ago during the Holocene. Contemporary carbon flux studies at 5 peatland sites show much larger NECB during the last decade (32 ± 7.8 (S.E.) g C m−2 yr−1) than during the last 7000 yr (~ 11 g C m−2 yr−1) as modeled from peat records across northern peatlands. This discrepancy highlights the urgent need for carbon accumulation data and process understanding, especially at decadal and centennial timescales, that would bridge current knowledge gaps and facilitate comparisons of NECB across all timescales.

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Carbon stocks of homestead forests have a mitigation potential to climate change in Bangladesh

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-88775-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Tarit Kumar Baul ◽

Tajkera Akhter Peuly ◽

Rajasree Nandi ◽

Lars Holger Schmidt ◽

Shyamal Karmakar

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Stand Structure ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Small Scale ◽

Species Diversity Index ◽

C Stocks ◽

Homestead Forests ◽

C Stock ◽

Low Altitude

AbstractA total of 176 homestead forests at three altitudes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh were randomly surveyed to estimate carbon (C) stocks and how stand structure affects the biomass C. All woody vegetations were measured, and litter and soil (0–30 cm depth) were sampled. The tree biomass C stock in the top two altitude forests was up to 37–48% higher than in low altitude, owing to significantly higher tree density and species diversity. An increase in species diversity index by one unit increased the biomass stock by 23 Mg C ha−1. The C stock of litterfall in low altitude forests was 22–28% higher than in the top two altitude due to the deposition of litters downslope and deliberate use of mulch for soil improvement and conservation, resulting in up to 5% higher total soil C. The topsoil C was 10–25% higher than the deeper soil, depending on the altitude. The forest stored 89 Mg C ha−1, indicating a potential for C sequestration in trees outside forest. This study would help policymakers to strengthen the recognition of small-scale forests for mitigation in REDD + (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) and support owners through C credits from sustainably managed forests.

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Historical and future carbon stocks in forests of northern Ontario, Canada

Carbon Balance and Management ◽

10.1186/s13021-021-00184-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michael T. Ter-Mikaelian ◽

Alemu Gonsamo ◽

Jing M. Chen ◽

Gang Mo ◽

Jiaxin Chen

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Natural Resources ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

First Century ◽

Historical Simulation ◽

C Stocks ◽

C Stock ◽

Forest C ◽

Soc Stocks

Abstract Background Forests in the Far North of Ontario (FNO), Canada, are likely the least studied in North America, and quantifying their current and future carbon (C) stocks is the first step in assessing their potential role in climate change mitigation. Although the FNO forests are unmanaged, the latter task is made more important by growing interest in developing the region’s natural resources, primarily for timber harvesting. In this study, we used a combination of field and remotely sensed observations with a land surface model to estimate forest C stocks in the FNO forests and to project their future dynamics. The specific objective was to simulate historical C stocks for 1901–2014 and future C stocks for 2015–2100 for five shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios selected as high priority scenarios for the 6th Assessment Report on Climate Change. Results Carbon stocks in live vegetation in the FNO forests remained relatively stable between 1901 and 2014 while soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks steadily declined, losing about 16% of their initial value. At the end of the historical simulation (in 2014), the stocks were estimated at 19.8, 46.4, and 66.2 tCha−1 in live vegetation, SOC, and total ecosystem pools, respectively. Projections for 2015–2100 indicated effectively no substantial change in SOC stocks, while live vegetation C stocks increased, accelerating their growth in the second half of the twenty-first century. These results were consistent among all simulated SSP scenarios. Consequently, increase in total forest ecosystem C stocks by 2100 ranged from 16.7 to 20.7% of their value in 2015. Simulations with and without wildfires showed the strong effect of fire on forest C stock dynamics during 2015–2100: inclusion of wildfires reduced the live vegetation increase by half while increasing the SOC pool due to higher turnover of vegetation C to SOC. Conclusions Forest ecosystem C stock estimates at the end of historical simulation period were at the lower end but within the range of values reported in the literature for northern boreal forests. These estimates may be treated as conservatively low since the area included in the estimates is poorly studied and some of the forests may be on peat deposits rather than mineral soils. Future C stocks were projected to increase in all simulated SSP scenarios, especially in the second half of the twenty-first century. Thus, during the projected period forest ecosystems of the FNO are likely to act as a C sink. In light of growing interest in developing natural resources in the FNO, collecting more data on the status and dynamics of its forests is needed to verify the above-presented estimates and design management activities that would maintain their projected C sink status.

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Baseline of Carbon Stocks in Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus spp. Plantations of Chile

10.20944/preprints202009.0102.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Guillermo Federico Olmedo ◽

Mario Guevara ◽

Horacio Gilabert ◽

Cristian R. Montes ◽

Eduardo C. Arellano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pinus Radiata ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Carbon Pool ◽

Total Carbon ◽

Forest Plantations ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

C Stocks ◽

Industrial Forest ◽

C Stock

Forest plantations have a large potential for carbon sequestration, playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, despite the huge amount of research carried out worldwide, the absolute contribution of industrial forest plantations is still incomplete for some parts of the world. To contribute to bridge this gap, we calculated the amount of C stock in three fast growing forest species in Chile. Relevant C pools (above-ground and below-ground biomass, forest floor, and soil) were considered for this analysis. Across the industrial plantation forests of Chile, carbon accumulated in the above-ground biomass was 181–212 Mg · ha−1 for Pinus radiata, 147–180 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus nitens, and 95–117 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus globulus (age 20–24 years for P.radiata and 10–14 years for Eucalyptus). Our results agree with other studies showing that 30%–50% of the total C stock is stored in the soil. Total C stocks were for 343 Mg · ha−1 for P.radiata, 352 Mg · ha−1 for E.nitens, and 254 Mg · ha−1 for E. gloubulus, also at the end of a typical rotation. The carbon pool in the forest floor was found to be significantly lower (less than 4% of the total) when compared to the other pools and showed large spatial variability. We conclude that industrial forest plantations are a valuable tool to reduce atmospheric CO2 and mitigate climate change. Given the contribution of soils to total carbon stocks, special attention should be paid to forest management activities that affect the soil organic carbon pool.

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Baseline of Carbon Stocks in Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus spp. Plantations of Chile

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11101063 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1063

Author(s):

Guillermo F. Olmedo ◽

Mario Guevara ◽

Horacio Gilabert ◽

Cristián R. Montes ◽

Eduardo C. Arellano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pinus Radiata ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Carbon Pool ◽

Total Carbon ◽

Forest Plantations ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

C Storage ◽

C Stocks ◽

C Stock

Forest plantations have a large potential for carbon sequestration, playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, despite the large amount of research carried out worldwide, the absolute contribution of forest plantations is still incomplete for some parts of the world. To help bridge this gap, we calculated the amount of C stock in three fast growing forest species in Chile. Carbon pools in above-ground and below-ground biomass, forest floor, and soil were considered for this analysis. Across the plantation forests of Chile, carbon accumulated in the above-ground biomass was 181–212 Mg · ha−1 for Pinus radiata, 147–180 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus nitens, and 95–117 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus globulus (age 20–24 years for P. radiata and 10–14 years for Eucalyptus). Total C stocks were for 343 Mg · ha−1 for P. radiata, 352 Mg · ha−1 for E. nitens, and 254 Mg · ha−1 for E. globulus, also at the end of a typical rotation. The carbon pool in the forest floor was found to be significantly lower (less than 4% of the total) when compared to the other pools and showed large spatial variability. Our results agree with other studies showing that 30–50% of the total C stock is stored in the soil. The baseline data will be valuable for modelling C storage changes under different management regimes (changes in species, rotation length and stocking) and for different future climates. Given the contribution of soils to total carbon stocks, special attention should be paid to forest management activities that affect the soil organic carbon pool.

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Revisiting Carbon Storage in Northern Peatlands: Ground-Based Estimates and Top-Down Constraints from Holocene Global Carbon Budget Reconstructions

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10779 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zicheng Yu ◽

Fortunat Joos ◽

Thomas Bauska ◽

Benjamin Stocker ◽

Hubertus Fischer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ice Core ◽

Lacustrine Sediments ◽

Systematic Bias ◽

The Holocene ◽

C Storage ◽

C Isotopes ◽

Peat Deposits ◽

C Stock ◽

Northern Peatlands ◽

Global Carbon

Northern peatlands store large amounts of carbon (C) and have played an important role in the global carbon cycle since the Last Glacial Maximum. Most northern peatlands have established since the end of the deglaciation and accumulated C over the Holocene, leading to a total present-day stock of 500 &#177; 100 GtC. This is a consolidated estimate, emerging from a diversity of methods using observational data. Recently, Nichols and Peteet (2019 Nature Geoscience 12: 917-921) presented an estimate of the northern peat C stock of 1055 GtC&#8212;exceeding previous estimates by a factor of two. Here, we will review various approaches and estimates of northern peatlands C storage in the literature and consider peat C storage in the context of the Holocene global C budget. We argue that the estimate by Nichols and Peteet is an overestimate, caused by systematic bias introduced by their inclusion of data that are representative for the major peatland regions and of records that lack direct measurements of C density. In particular, some &#8220;peatland&#8221; sites and data that were included in their synthesis were likely from lacustrine sediments prior to the onset of peat deposits. Furthermore, we argue that their estimate cannot be reconciled within the constraints offered by ice-core and marine records of stable C isotopes and estimated contributions from other processes that affected the terrestrial C storage during the Holocene.

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Variability in Carbon Stocks Across a Chronosequence of Masson Pine Plantations and the Trade-Off Between Plant and Soil Systems

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12101342 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 1342

Author(s):

Jie He ◽

Quanhou Dai ◽

Fengwei Xu ◽

Xudong Peng ◽

Youjin Yan

Keyword(s):

Carbon Stocks ◽

Stand Age ◽

Soil System ◽

Masson Pine ◽

Trade Off ◽

Plant System ◽

Ecosystem Carbon ◽

Soil Systems ◽

C Stocks ◽

C Stock

Plantations sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide and positively respond to climate change, but the carbon (C) sequestration capacity and the trade-off between plant and soil systems in plantations may vary significantly across a chronosequence. Masson pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) plantations were selected to investigate the variability of C stocks in 7-, 14-, and 30-year-old stands. The total ecosystem C stock increased with stand age from 14.82 to 19.21 Mg C. Carbon stocks increased with stand age in the plant system but decreased in the soil system, with the ratio of plant-to-soil C stocks increasing from 0.06 in the 7-year-old plantation to 0.70 in the 30-year-old plantation. Carbon stocks in the first 20 cm of the soil accounted for 44.60%, 43.01%, and 30.18% of the total ecosystem carbon stock in 7-, 14-, and 30-year-old plantations, respectively. The variation trends for the proportions of C stock in soil decreased with soil depth as a result of tree and root growth regardless of stand age. Most C was stored in the stems, which contributed 1.36%, 6.85%, and 29.57% of total ecosystem C stock across the chronosequence. Results of structural equation model indicated that the effect of plant system C stock on ecosystem C stock was far larger than soil system C stock, and saturated hydraulic conductivity (ks) and fractal dimension (D) could be the primary parameters affecting ecosystem C stocks according to redundancy analysis (Variance explained by the variables selected). In summary, the plant system increased biomass C stocks by regulating soil properties to meet their growth requirements, the growth of plants in turn changed the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, then both regulated ecosystem carbon sequestration in Masson pine plantations.

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The limits to northern peatland carbon stocks

10.5194/bg-2019-76 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Georgii A. Alexandrov ◽

Victor A. Brovkin ◽

Thomas Kleinen ◽

Zicheng Yu

Keyword(s):

Carbon Emissions ◽

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Sink ◽

Carbon Dioxide Concentration ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Carbon Accumulation ◽

Interglacial Period ◽

Anthropogenic Carbon ◽

Natural Carbon ◽

Northern Peatlands

Abstract. Northern peatlands have been a persistent natural carbon sink since the last glacial maximum. If there were no limits to their growth, carbon accumulation in these ecosystems could offset a large portion of anthropogenic carbon emissions until the end of the present interglacial period. Evaluation of the limits to northern peatland carbon stocks shows that northern peatlands will potentially play an important role, second only to the oceans, in reducing the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to the level that is typical of interglacial periods if cumulative anthropogenic carbon emissions will be kept below 1000 Pg of carbon.

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REMOVAL OF ZINC (II) FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS BY ROMANIAN SPHAGNUM PEAT MOSS

Environmental Engineering and Management Journal ◽

10.30638/eemj.2007.024 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 205-209 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Angelica Kicsi ◽

Doina Bilba ◽

Matei Macoveanu

Keyword(s):

Aqueous Solutions ◽

Peat Moss ◽

Sphagnum Peat ◽

Sphagnum Peat Moss

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Effect of Restoration Actions on Organic Carbon Pools in the Lagoon—Delta Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombian Caribbean

Water ◽

10.3390/w13091297 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 1297

Author(s):

Laura Victoria Perdomo-Trujillo ◽

Jose Ernesto Mancera-Pineda ◽

Jairo Humberto Medina-Calderón ◽

David Alejandro Sánchez-Núñez ◽

Marie-Luise Schnetter

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter Content ◽

Matter Content ◽

Partial Recovery ◽

Management Intervention ◽

Management Measures ◽

C Stocks ◽

C Stock ◽

Magdalena River ◽

Indirect Relationship ◽

Mangrove Degradation

Mangroves provide multiple ecosystem services and are essential for mitigating global warming owing to their capacity to store large carbon (C) stocks. Due to widespread mangrove degradation, actions have been implemented to restore them worldwide. An important representative case in Colombia is the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta’s restoration plan. This management intervention focused on restoring the natural hydrological functioning after massive mangrove mortality (~25,000 ha) due to soil hyper-salinization after river water input from the Magdalena River was eliminated. A partial recovery occurred during subsequent years, and hydrological management is still being implemented today. To understand how the degradation and subsequent management have affected mangrove C stocks, we compared C stocks in stands with different intervention levels reflected in their current forest structure. We found that the total C stock (398–1160 Mg C ha−1) was within the range measured in other neotropical mangroves without vegetation deterioration. The aboveground C was significantly higher in the stands where hydraulic connectivity was restored. By contrast, the belowground C was higher in the stands with low hydraulic connectivity due to channel clogging and a lack of sufficient maintenance. Our results show that hydrological management measures influenced above- and belowground C stocks, even at a 2 m depth. In addition, a strong indirect relationship useful for estimating carbon content from organic matter content was found.

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