Simulation of Carbon Exchange from a Permafrost Peatland in the Great Hing’an Mountains Based on CoupModel

• Published in: Atmosphere
• Main Authors: Yue Li, Zhongmei Wan, Li Sun
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: climate change; future climate scenario; peatland; CoupModel; carbon exchange; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; permafrost
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010044; https://doaj.org/article/4f2e398d3ff342c2801c34bdc2b08a6e

Climate change is accelerating its impact on northern ecosystems. Northern peatlands store a considerable amount of C, but their response to climate change remains highly uncertain. In order to explore the feedback of a peatland in the Great Hing’an Mountains to future climate change, we simulated the response of the overall net ecosystem exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration (ER), and gross primary production (GPP) during 2020–2100 under three representative concentration pathways (RCP2.6, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5). Under the RCP2.6 and RCP6.0 scenarios, the carbon sink will increase slightly until 2100. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the carbon sink will follow a trend of gradual decrease after 2053. These results show that when meteorological factors, especially temperature, reach a certain degree, the carbon source/sink of the peatland ecosystem will be converted. In general, although the peatland will remain a carbon sink until the end of the 21st century, carbon sinks will decrease under the influence of climate change. Our results indicate that in the case of future climate warming, with the growing seasons experiencing overall dryer and warmer environments and changes in vegetation communities, peatland NEE, ER, and GPP will increase and lead to the increase in ecosystem carbon accumulation.