Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe.
<h4>Background</h4>Peatlands are globally-important carbon sinks at risk of degradation from climate change and direct human impacts, including drainage and burning. Peat accumulates when there is a positive mass balance between plant productivity inputs and litter/peat decomposition los...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327422 |
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| author | Graeme T Swindles Donal J Mullan Neil T Brannigan Richard E Fewster Thomas G Sim Angela Gallego-Sala Maarten Blaauw Mariusz Lamentowicz Vincent E J Jassey Katarzyna Marcisz Sophie M Green Thomas P Roland Julie Loisel Matthew J Amesbury Antony Blundell Frank M Chambers Dan J Charman Callum R C Evans Angelica Feurdean Jennifer M Galloway Mariusz Gałka Edgar Karofeld Evelyn M Keaveney Atte Korhola Łukasz Lamentowicz Peter Langdon Dmitri Mauquoy Michelle M McKeown Edward A D Mitchell Gill Plunkett Helen M Roe T Edward Turner Ülle Sillasoo Minna Väliranta Marjolein van der Linden Barry Warner |
| author_facet | Graeme T Swindles Donal J Mullan Neil T Brannigan Richard E Fewster Thomas G Sim Angela Gallego-Sala Maarten Blaauw Mariusz Lamentowicz Vincent E J Jassey Katarzyna Marcisz Sophie M Green Thomas P Roland Julie Loisel Matthew J Amesbury Antony Blundell Frank M Chambers Dan J Charman Callum R C Evans Angelica Feurdean Jennifer M Galloway Mariusz Gałka Edgar Karofeld Evelyn M Keaveney Atte Korhola Łukasz Lamentowicz Peter Langdon Dmitri Mauquoy Michelle M McKeown Edward A D Mitchell Gill Plunkett Helen M Roe T Edward Turner Ülle Sillasoo Minna Väliranta Marjolein van der Linden Barry Warner |
| author_sort | Graeme T Swindles |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>Peatlands are globally-important carbon sinks at risk of degradation from climate change and direct human impacts, including drainage and burning. Peat accumulates when there is a positive mass balance between plant productivity inputs and litter/peat decomposition losses. However, the factors influencing the rate of peat accumulation over time are still poorly understood.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We examine apparent peat accumulation rates (aPAR) during the last two millennia from 28 well-dated, intact European peatlands and find a range of between 0.005 and 0.448 cm yr-1 (mean = 0.118 cm yr-1). Our work provides important context for the commonplace assertion that European peatlands accumulate at ~0.1 cm per year. The highest aPAR values are found in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions, in contrast to Britain, Ireland, and Continental Europe. We find that summer temperature is a significant climatic control on aPAR across our European sites. Furthermore, a significant relationship is observed between aPAR and water-table depth (reconstructed from testate-amoeba subfossils), suggesting that higher aPAR levels are often associated with wetter conditions. We also note that the highest values of aPAR are found when the water table is within 5-10 cm of the peatland surface. aPAR is generally low when water table depths are < 0 cm (standing water) or > 25 cm, which may relate to a decrease in plant productivity and increased decomposition losses, respectively. Model fitting indicates that the optimal water table depth (WTD) for maximum aPAR is ~10 cm.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>Our study suggests that, in some European peatlands, higher summer temperatures may enhance growth rates, but only if a sufficiently high water table is maintained. In addition, our findings corroborate contemporary observational and experimental studies that have suggested an average water-table depth of ~10 cm is optimal to enable rapid peat growth and therefore carbon sequestration in the long term. This has important implications for peatland restoration and rewetting strategies, in global efforts to mitigate climate change. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0a640e873d8b4df2a32e46c2f6840151 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-0a640e873d8b4df2a32e46c2f68401512025-08-20T03:22:22ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01207e032742210.1371/journal.pone.0327422Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe.Graeme T SwindlesDonal J MullanNeil T BranniganRichard E FewsterThomas G SimAngela Gallego-SalaMaarten BlaauwMariusz LamentowiczVincent E J JasseyKatarzyna MarciszSophie M GreenThomas P RolandJulie LoiselMatthew J AmesburyAntony BlundellFrank M ChambersDan J CharmanCallum R C EvansAngelica FeurdeanJennifer M GallowayMariusz GałkaEdgar KarofeldEvelyn M KeaveneyAtte KorholaŁukasz LamentowiczPeter LangdonDmitri MauquoyMichelle M McKeownEdward A D MitchellGill PlunkettHelen M RoeT Edward TurnerÜlle SillasooMinna VälirantaMarjolein van der LindenBarry Warner<h4>Background</h4>Peatlands are globally-important carbon sinks at risk of degradation from climate change and direct human impacts, including drainage and burning. Peat accumulates when there is a positive mass balance between plant productivity inputs and litter/peat decomposition losses. However, the factors influencing the rate of peat accumulation over time are still poorly understood.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We examine apparent peat accumulation rates (aPAR) during the last two millennia from 28 well-dated, intact European peatlands and find a range of between 0.005 and 0.448 cm yr-1 (mean = 0.118 cm yr-1). Our work provides important context for the commonplace assertion that European peatlands accumulate at ~0.1 cm per year. The highest aPAR values are found in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions, in contrast to Britain, Ireland, and Continental Europe. We find that summer temperature is a significant climatic control on aPAR across our European sites. Furthermore, a significant relationship is observed between aPAR and water-table depth (reconstructed from testate-amoeba subfossils), suggesting that higher aPAR levels are often associated with wetter conditions. We also note that the highest values of aPAR are found when the water table is within 5-10 cm of the peatland surface. aPAR is generally low when water table depths are < 0 cm (standing water) or > 25 cm, which may relate to a decrease in plant productivity and increased decomposition losses, respectively. Model fitting indicates that the optimal water table depth (WTD) for maximum aPAR is ~10 cm.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>Our study suggests that, in some European peatlands, higher summer temperatures may enhance growth rates, but only if a sufficiently high water table is maintained. In addition, our findings corroborate contemporary observational and experimental studies that have suggested an average water-table depth of ~10 cm is optimal to enable rapid peat growth and therefore carbon sequestration in the long term. This has important implications for peatland restoration and rewetting strategies, in global efforts to mitigate climate change.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327422 |
| spellingShingle | Graeme T Swindles Donal J Mullan Neil T Brannigan Richard E Fewster Thomas G Sim Angela Gallego-Sala Maarten Blaauw Mariusz Lamentowicz Vincent E J Jassey Katarzyna Marcisz Sophie M Green Thomas P Roland Julie Loisel Matthew J Amesbury Antony Blundell Frank M Chambers Dan J Charman Callum R C Evans Angelica Feurdean Jennifer M Galloway Mariusz Gałka Edgar Karofeld Evelyn M Keaveney Atte Korhola Łukasz Lamentowicz Peter Langdon Dmitri Mauquoy Michelle M McKeown Edward A D Mitchell Gill Plunkett Helen M Roe T Edward Turner Ülle Sillasoo Minna Väliranta Marjolein van der Linden Barry Warner Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe. PLoS ONE |
| title | Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe. |
| title_full | Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe. |
| title_fullStr | Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe. |
| title_short | Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe. |
| title_sort | climate and water table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across europe |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327422 |
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