Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change
Permafrost peatlands are found in high-latitude regions and store globally-important amounts of soil organic carbon. These regions are warming at over twice the global average rate, causing permafrost thaw, and exposing previously inert carbon to decomposition and emission to the atmosphere as green...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:611f10d8210d40f5a69ebfd882bb9dd7 2023-09-05T13:21:59+02:00 Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change Thomas G Sim Graeme T Swindles Paul J Morris Andy J Baird Claire L Cooper Angela V Gallego-Sala Dan J Charman Thomas P Roland Werner Borken Donal J Mullan Marco A Aquino-López Mariusz Gałka 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b https://doaj.org/article/611f10d8210d40f5a69ebfd882bb9dd7 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/611f10d8210d40f5a69ebfd882bb9dd7 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 3, p 034001 (2021) permafrost peatlands climate change hydrology carbon Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b 2023-08-13T00:37:16Z Permafrost peatlands are found in high-latitude regions and store globally-important amounts of soil organic carbon. These regions are warming at over twice the global average rate, causing permafrost thaw, and exposing previously inert carbon to decomposition and emission to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. However, it is unclear how peatland hydrological behaviour, vegetation structure and carbon balance, and the linkages between them, will respond to permafrost thaw in a warming climate. Here we show that permafrost peatlands follow divergent ecohydrological trajectories in response to recent climate change within the same rapidly warming region (northern Sweden). Whether a site becomes wetter or drier depends on local factors and the autogenic response of individual peatlands. We find that bryophyte-dominated vegetation demonstrates resistance, and in some cases resilience, to climatic and hydrological shifts. Drying at four sites is clearly associated with reduced carbon sequestration, while no clear relationship at wetting sites is observed. We highlight the complex dynamics of permafrost peatlands and warn against an overly-simple approach when considering their ecohydrological trajectories and role as C sinks under a warming climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Environmental Research Letters 16 3 034001 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
permafrost peatlands climate change hydrology carbon Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
permafrost peatlands climate change hydrology carbon Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Thomas G Sim Graeme T Swindles Paul J Morris Andy J Baird Claire L Cooper Angela V Gallego-Sala Dan J Charman Thomas P Roland Werner Borken Donal J Mullan Marco A Aquino-López Mariusz Gałka Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change |
topic_facet |
permafrost peatlands climate change hydrology carbon Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Permafrost peatlands are found in high-latitude regions and store globally-important amounts of soil organic carbon. These regions are warming at over twice the global average rate, causing permafrost thaw, and exposing previously inert carbon to decomposition and emission to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. However, it is unclear how peatland hydrological behaviour, vegetation structure and carbon balance, and the linkages between them, will respond to permafrost thaw in a warming climate. Here we show that permafrost peatlands follow divergent ecohydrological trajectories in response to recent climate change within the same rapidly warming region (northern Sweden). Whether a site becomes wetter or drier depends on local factors and the autogenic response of individual peatlands. We find that bryophyte-dominated vegetation demonstrates resistance, and in some cases resilience, to climatic and hydrological shifts. Drying at four sites is clearly associated with reduced carbon sequestration, while no clear relationship at wetting sites is observed. We highlight the complex dynamics of permafrost peatlands and warn against an overly-simple approach when considering their ecohydrological trajectories and role as C sinks under a warming climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thomas G Sim Graeme T Swindles Paul J Morris Andy J Baird Claire L Cooper Angela V Gallego-Sala Dan J Charman Thomas P Roland Werner Borken Donal J Mullan Marco A Aquino-López Mariusz Gałka |
author_facet |
Thomas G Sim Graeme T Swindles Paul J Morris Andy J Baird Claire L Cooper Angela V Gallego-Sala Dan J Charman Thomas P Roland Werner Borken Donal J Mullan Marco A Aquino-López Mariusz Gałka |
author_sort |
Thomas G Sim |
title |
Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change |
title_short |
Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change |
title_full |
Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change |
title_fullStr |
Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change |
title_sort |
divergent responses of permafrost peatlands to recent climate change |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b https://doaj.org/article/611f10d8210d40f5a69ebfd882bb9dd7 |
genre |
Northern Sweden permafrost |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden permafrost |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 3, p 034001 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/611f10d8210d40f5a69ebfd882bb9dd7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe00b |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
034001 |
_version_ |
1776202534883426304 |