Biotic and abiotic factors interact to regulate northern peatland carbon cycling

Armstrong, Alona; Waldron, Susan; Ostle, Nicholas J.; Richardson, Harriett; Whitaker, Jeanette ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8824-471X. 2015 Biotic and abiotic factors interact to regulate northern peatland carbon cycling. Ecosystems, 18 (8). 1395-1409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9907-4

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Abstract/Summary

Understanding the spatio-temporal variability of controls on peatland carbon (C) cycling is essential to project the effects of future environmental change. While there is understanding of individual drivers of C cycling, the effect of multiple drivers, including interactions, remains poorly understood. Using a spatially and temporally explicit sampling framework, we examined the effects of biotic and abiotic controls on key indicators of peatland functioning: ecosystem respiration (R eco), photosynthesis (P cal), net ecosystem exchange (NEE), methane (CH4) fluxes, and pore water dissolved organic carbon concentration ([DOC]). Measurements were made over 12 months in a blanket peatland hosting a wind farm in Scotland, UK. Overall, we found that (i) season and plant functional type (PFT) explained most variation in R eco and P cal, (ii) PFT and spatial location within the wind farm, which integrates several peat properties, were dominant predictors of CH4 fluxes, and (iii) season and location within the wind farm correlated with pore water [DOC]. Examination of predictors indicated that interactions, between and within biotic and abiotic factors, explained a significant amount of variation in greenhouse gas fluxes and [DOC]. These findings indicate that combinations of biotic and abiotic factors could mediate or exacerbate the effects of future environmental change on peatland C cycling. Given this, studies of C cycling need to capture the spatial and temporal variance of biotic and abiotic factors and their interactions to project the likely impacts of environmental change.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9907-4
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Shore
ISSN:	1432-9840
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	spatial variation, temporal variation, interactions, peatland, greenhouse gas flux, dissolved organic carbon
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Agriculture and Soil Science
Date made live:	09 Nov 2015 15:18 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512147

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