 |
| Titel |
A method to determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity in living peat moss (Sphagnum) layers |
| VerfasserIn |
Jelmer Nijp, Klaas Metselaar, Juul Limpens |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2011
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 13 (2011) |
| Datensatznummer |
250051682
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| With 30% of terrestrial soil carbon being stored in peatlands, these ecosystems are an
important carbon sink and component in the global carbon balance. The majority of
peatlands is situated in the boreal zone, in which peat-forming bryophytes of the genus
Sphagnum are the dominant vegetation and are thereby play a central role in carbon
accumulation.
Morphological characteristics of the peat moss alter the ability to conduct and retain
water in the highly porous, apical living part (capitula layer), which jointly affect growth and
sequestration of carbon. The capitulum water content is governed by changes in the water
balance terms, which are respectively rainfall, capillary rise, leakage and evaporation. Except
for rainfall, all fluxes in the capitula layer are influenced by the relative hydraulic
conductivity, which is a measure for resistance to water flow in porous media and is a
function of water content.
To quantify the relative hydraulic conductivity, several empirical models have been
developed. In the majority of these models the saturated hydraulic conductivity is
included as indispensable parameter. To reliably quantify the water balance and solute
transport it is crucial to have reliable parameter estimates of the saturated hydraulic
conductivity. However, applying standard methods for mineral soils to determine
the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the living moss layer introduces several
complications.
In this study we describe the complications involved and introduce a modified method to
determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the living moss layer. The new method was
successfully tested on intact soil cores (Depth 0-10cm) of three contrasting Sphagnum
species. |
|
|
|
|
|
|