Publication Date:
2017-07-17
Description:
The stability of northern peatland's carbon (C) store under changing climate is of major concern for the global C cycle. The aquatic export of C from boreal peatlands is recognized as both a critical pathway for the remobilization of peat C stocks as well as a major component of the net ecosystem C balance (NECB). Here, we present a full year characterization of radiocarbon content ( 14 C) of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) exported from a boreal peatland catchment coupled with 14 C characterization of the catchment's peat profile of the same C-species. The age of aquatic C in runoff varied little throughout the year and appeared to be sustained by recently fixed C from the atmosphere (〈60 years), despite stream DOC, CO 2 , and CH 4 primarily being sourced from deep peat horizons (2-4m) near the mire's outlet. In fact, the 14 C content of DOC, CO 2 and CH 4 across the entire peat profile was considerably enriched with post-bomb C compared with the solid peat material. Overall, our results demonstrate little to no mobilization of ancient C stocks from this boreal peatland and a relatively large resilience of the source of aquatic C export to forecasted hydro-climatic changes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Print ISSN:
1354-1013
Electronic ISSN:
1365-2486
Topics:
Biology
,
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
,
Geography
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