Volume 18 (2016) Article 07

Loss of the soil carbon storage function of drained forested peatlands.

by C. Wüst-Galley, E. Mössinger and J. Leifeld

Published online: 08.04.2016

Summary

Peatlands form a large but unstable C store. Drainage of peatlands converts them into C sources, which is undesirable if increases in atmospheric CO₂ levels are to be minimised. Therefore, quantification of C stocks and an understanding of which ecosystems or management regimes are capturing or emitting C is needed. Such information is scarce for temperate European forests. We studied the soil properties of sixteen peatlands in Switzerland, representing three forest types, to test whether peatlands that are more strongly affected by drainage (according to vegetation) have lost their function as C sinks or stores. Bulk density and ash enrichment, as well as H/C, O/C and C/N quotients, indicated that the soils of the two forest types that appeared to be more strongly affected by drainage were more degraded and had lost their functions as C stores. Long-term net rates of C loss estimated using the ash residue method were similar across all three forest types, for sites where this could be estimated.

Citation

Wüst-Galley, C., Mössinger, E. & Leifeld, J. (2016): Loss of the soil carbon storage function of drained forested peatlands. Mires and Peat, 18(07), 1-22. (Online: http://www.mires-and-peat.net/pages/volumes/map18/map1807.php); 10.19189/MaP.2015.OMB.189

Reviewers

IMCG and IPS acknowledge the work of the reviewers.