No support for carbon storage of >1000 GtC in northern peatlands (Comment on the paper by Nichols & Peteet (2019) in Nature Geoscience, 12, 917-921)

Northern peatlands store large amounts of carbon: 500 ± 100 GtC, according to a consolidated estimate from a diversity of methods1,2,3,4,5,6. However, Nichols and Peteet7 presented an estimate of 1,055 GtC, exceeding previous estimates of carbon stock in global peatlands2 and in northern peatlands b...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Geoscience
Main Authors: Yu, Z., Joos, F., Bauska, T., Stocker, B., Fischer, H., Loisel, J., Brovkin, V., Hugelius, G., Nehrbass-Ahles, C., Kleinen, T., Schmitt, J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
ice core
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-D656-6
http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000B-7AF0-D
Description
Summary:Northern peatlands store large amounts of carbon: 500 ± 100 GtC, according to a consolidated estimate from a diversity of methods1,2,3,4,5,6. However, Nichols and Peteet7 presented an estimate of 1,055 GtC, exceeding previous estimates of carbon stock in global peatlands2 and in northern peatlands by a factor of two. Here we argue that this is an overestimate, caused by systematic bias introduced by their inclusion of 14C dates from mineral deposits and other unsuitable sites, the use of records that lack direct measurements of carbon density, and the methodology issues. Furthermore, their estimate is difficult to reconcile within the top-down constraints imposed by ice-core and marine records, and estimated contributions from other processes that affected the terrestrial carbon storage during the Holocene epoch.

Similar Items