Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland
Abstract It remains uncertain whether and when rewetting of drained fen peatlands contributes to climate change mitigation by reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Recolonization by emergent macrophytes is considered a key factor in this process. We present 5 years of carbon dioxide and met...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02607-4 |
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| author | Danica Antonijević Mathias Hoffmann Dominik Zak Annette Prochnow Maren Dubbert Marten Schmidt Jürgen Augustin |
| author_facet | Danica Antonijević Mathias Hoffmann Dominik Zak Annette Prochnow Maren Dubbert Marten Schmidt Jürgen Augustin |
| author_sort | Danica Antonijević |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract It remains uncertain whether and when rewetting of drained fen peatlands contributes to climate change mitigation by reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Recolonization by emergent macrophytes is considered a key factor in this process. We present 5 years of carbon dioxide and methane emission data from a rewetted fen peatland in northeast Germany. Four automatic chambers were installed along a transect perpendicular to the shoreline of a lake formed after rewetting, capturing three stages of plant succession: open water (1), initial recolonization by emergent macrophytes (2), and a stable emergent macrophyte community (3). Net carbon dioxide fluxes decreased progressively throughout the successional stages, while methane emissions exhibited a wave-like pattern, with a pronounced short-term increase during stage 2. Excluding this emission peak can lead to considerable underestimation of net emissions. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for all successional stages to accurately assess the climate effects of rewetting. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-62e4ae1ebb6f48dfbe33133e6a44fc7a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-62e4ae1ebb6f48dfbe33133e6a44fc7a2025-08-24T11:52:41ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-07-016111410.1038/s43247-025-02607-4Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatlandDanica Antonijević0Mathias Hoffmann1Dominik Zak2Annette Prochnow3Maren Dubbert4Marten Schmidt5Jürgen Augustin6Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., Research Area 1: Landscape FunctioningLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., Research Area 1: Landscape FunctioningDepartment of Ecoscience, Aarhus UniversityHumboldt Universität zu Berlin, Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural SciencesLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., Research Area 1: Landscape FunctioningLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., Research Area 1: Landscape FunctioningLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., Research Area 1: Landscape FunctioningAbstract It remains uncertain whether and when rewetting of drained fen peatlands contributes to climate change mitigation by reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Recolonization by emergent macrophytes is considered a key factor in this process. We present 5 years of carbon dioxide and methane emission data from a rewetted fen peatland in northeast Germany. Four automatic chambers were installed along a transect perpendicular to the shoreline of a lake formed after rewetting, capturing three stages of plant succession: open water (1), initial recolonization by emergent macrophytes (2), and a stable emergent macrophyte community (3). Net carbon dioxide fluxes decreased progressively throughout the successional stages, while methane emissions exhibited a wave-like pattern, with a pronounced short-term increase during stage 2. Excluding this emission peak can lead to considerable underestimation of net emissions. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for all successional stages to accurately assess the climate effects of rewetting.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02607-4 |
| spellingShingle | Danica Antonijević Mathias Hoffmann Dominik Zak Annette Prochnow Maren Dubbert Marten Schmidt Jürgen Augustin Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland |
| title_full | Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland |
| title_fullStr | Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland |
| title_short | Impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland |
| title_sort | impact of plant succession on greenhouse gas fluxes during the transition of a flooded fen peatland |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02607-4 |
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