Sammanfattning

Northern peatlands can emit large amounts of carbon and harmful smoke pollution during a wildfire. Of particular concern are drained and mined peatlands, where management practices destabilize an array of ecohydrological feedbacks, moss traits and peat properties that moderate water and carbon losses in natural peatlands. Our results demonstrate that drained and mined peatlands in Canada and northern Europe can experience catastrophic deep burns (>200 t C ha(-1) emitted) under current weather conditions. Furthermore, climate change will cause greater water losses in these peatlands and subject even deeper peat layers to wildfire combustion. However, the rewetting of drained peatlands and the restoration of mined peatlands can effectively lower the risk of these deep burns, especially if a new peat moss layer successfully establishes and raises peat moisture content. We argue that restoration efforts are a necessary measure to mitigate the risk of carbon loss in managed peatlands under climate change.

Publicerad i

Scientific Reports
2016, Volym: 6, artikelnummer: 28498
Utgivare: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

SLU författare

• Granath, Gustaf

  • Institutionen för ekologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    
  • McMaster University

Globala målen

SDG13 Vidta omedelbara åtgärder för att bekämpa klimatförändringarna och dess konsekvenser


UKÄ forskningsämne

Miljövetenskap
Oceanografi, hydrologi, vattenresurser
Ekologi


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28498

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/79712