Greenhouse gas concentrations in peatland pools

Peatlands contain over one third of the world’s soil carbon and represent the largest terrestrial carbon pool in the UK. Therefore understanding the processes involved in peatland carbon cycling, and in particular those responsible for the release of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere, is a major current research priority. Pools are common features of many peatland systems and previous studies have suggested that these pools can be strong sources of CO2 and CH4, and therefore represent hotspots for GHG release, and biochemical processing, within the landscape. The number of artificial peatland pools is increasing as a result of the recent drive to restore peatland hydrology through drain blocking. A small area of open water is often formed behind drain blocks and it is currently unknown to what extent the processes occurring within these artificial pools are similar to those in natural systems. Here we present results from the first year of sampling within the NERC funded Peatland Pools project. Concentrations of GHGs (CO2, CH4 and N2O) are presented alongside preliminary flux estimates from 12 intensively monitored pools in the Cross Lochs area of Forsinard; 6 of the pools are natural, 6 the result of drain blocking, allowing for a comparison of pool types. In addition we also present GHG concentrations from a much wider pool survey across the UK.