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| Titel |
Moss and peat hydraulic properties are optimized to maximise peatland water use efficiency |
| VerfasserIn |
Nicholas Kettridge, Amey Tilak, Kevin Devito, Rich Petrone, Carl Mendoza, Mike Waddington |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250123379
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-2619.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Peatland ecosystems are globally important carbon and terrestrial surface water stores that
have formed over millennia. These ecosystems have likely optimised their ecohydrological
function over the long-term development of their soil hydraulic properties. Through a
theoretical ecosystem approach, applying hydrological modelling integrated with known
ecological thresholds and concepts, the optimisation of peat hydraulic properties is examined
to determine which of the following conditions peatland ecosystems target during this
development: i) maximise carbon accumulation, ii) maximise water storage, or
iii) balance carbon profit across hydrological disturbances. Saturated hydraulic
conductivity (Ks) and empirical van Genuchten water retention parameter α are shown to
provide a first order control on simulated water tensions. Across parameter space,
peat profiles with hypothetical combinations of Ks and α show a strong binary
tendency towards targeting either water or carbon storage. Actual hydraulic properties
from five northern peatlands fall at the interface between these goals, balancing the
competing demands of carbon accumulation and water storage. We argue that peat
hydraulic properties are thus optimized to maximise water use efficiency and that
this optimisation occurs over a centennial to millennial timescale as the peatland
develops. This provides a new conceptual framework to characterise peat hydraulic
properties across climate zones and between a range of different disturbances, and
which can be used to provide benchmarks for peatland design and reclamation. |
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