Dataset Information

Peat deposits store more carbon than trees in forested peatlands of the boreal biome.

ABSTRACT: Peatlands are significant carbon (C) stores, playing a key role in nature-based climate change mitigation. While the effectiveness of non-forested peatlands as C reservoirs is increasingly recognized, the C sequestration function of forested peatlands remains poorly documented, despite their widespread distribution. Here, we evaluate the C sequestration potential of pristine boreal forested peatlands over both recent and millennial timescales. C stock estimates reveal that most of the carbon stored in these ecosystems is found in organic horizons (22.6-66.0 kg m^-2), whereas tree C mass (2.8-5.7 kg m^-2) decreases with thickening peat. For the first time, we compare the boreal C storage capacities of peat layers and tree biomass on the same timescale, showing that organic horizons (11.0-12.6 kg m^-2) can store more carbon than tree aboveground and belowground biomass (2.8-5.7 kg m^-2) even over a short time period (last 200 years). We also show that forested peatlands have similar recent rates of C accumulation to boreal non-forested peatlands but lower long-term rates, suggesting higher decay and more important peat layer combustion during fire events. Our findings highlight the significance of forested peatlands for C sequestration and suggest that greater consideration should be given to peat C stores in national greenhouse gas inventories and conservation policies.

SUBMITTER: Beaulne J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7846601 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Peat deposits store more carbon than trees in forested peatlands of the boreal biome.

Beaulne Joannie J Garneau Michelle M Magnan Gabriel G Boucher Étienne É

Scientific reports 20210129 1

Peatlands are significant carbon (C) stores, playing a key role in nature-based climate change mitigation. While the effectiveness of non-forested peatlands as C reservoirs is increasingly recognized, the C sequestration function of forested peatlands remains poorly documented, despite their widespread distribution. Here, we evaluate the C sequestration potential of pristine boreal forested peatlands over both recent and millennial timescales. C stock estimates reveal that most of the carbon sto ...[more]

PMID: 33514778

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Project description:BackgroundBlack spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP)-forested peatlands are widespread ecosystems in boreal North America in which peat accumulation, known as the paludification process, has been shown to induce forest growth decline. The continuously evolving environmental conditions (e.g., water table rise, increasing peat thickness) in paludified forests may require tree growth mechanism adjustments over time. In this study, we investigate tree ecophysiological mechanisms along a paludification gradient in a boreal forested peatland of eastern Canada by combining peat-based and tree-ring analyses. Carbon and oxygen stable isotopes in tree rings are used to document changes in carbon assimilation rates, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency. In addition, paleohydrological analyses are performed to evaluate the dynamical ecophysiological adjustments of black spruce trees to site-specific water table variations.ResultsIncreasing peat accumulation considerably impacts forest growth, but no significant differences in tree water use efficiency (iWUE) are found between the study sites. Tree-ring isotopic analysis indicates no iWUE decrease over the last 100 years, but rather an important increase at each site up to the 1980s, before iWUE stabilized. Surprisingly, inferred basal area increments do not reflect such trends. Therefore, iWUE variations do not reflect tree ecophysiological adjustments required by changes in growing conditions. Local water table variations induce no changes in ecophysiological mechanisms, but a synchronous shift in iWUE is observed at all sites in the mid-1980s.ConclusionsOur study shows that paludification induces black spruce growth decline without altering tree water use efficiency in boreal forested peatlands. These findings highlight that failing to account for paludification-related carbon use and allocation could result in the overestimation of aboveground biomass production in paludified sites. Further research on carbon allocation strategies is of utmost importance to understand the carbon sink capacity of these widespread ecosystems in the context of climate change, and to make appropriate forest management decisions in the boreal biome.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40663-021-00307-x.

Dataset Information

Peat deposits store more carbon than trees in forested peatlands of the boreal biome.

Publications

Peat deposits store more carbon than trees in forested peatlands of the boreal biome.

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