 |
| Titel |
A 9000 year perspective on carbon accumulation rates under changing hydro-climate and vegetation conditions in a mountain peatland, northern Carpathians, Romania |
| VerfasserIn |
Angelica Feurdean, Andrei Panait, Mariusz Galka, Andrei Diaconu, Simon Hutchinson, Andreas Mulch, Ioan Tanţău, Thomas Hickler |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
en
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250129268
|
| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-9355.pdf |
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| Peatlands, in particular ombrogenous bogs, which entirely depend on water from
precipitation, are sensitive to changes in the balance between precipitation and
evapotranspiration; and therefore highly suitable for hydro-climatological reconstruction.
Peatlands also represent a large carbon pool in the terrestrial biosphere. However, little is
known about the C sequestration processes in mountain peatlands under various
competing drivers of change (climate, vegetation, fire). We applied a multi-proxy
approach (bulk density, loss on ignition, total organic carbon, testate amoebae, δ13C
in Sphagnum, plant macrofossils, pollen and charcoal) to a peat sequence from a
mountain ombrogenous bog (Tăul Muced) to explore how changes in hydro-climate
conditions, peat plant composition and fire have affected long-term physical peat
properties and the rate of carbon accumulation over the last 9000 years. Carbon
accumulation at this site ranged from 7 to 105 g C cm_2 yr_1 (mean 23 ± 14 g
C cm_2 yr_1). We found that high moisture availability (P-E) as inferred from
testate amoebae and δ13C values in Sphagnum increased the carbon sink capacity of
peatland. The strength of the relationship between the rate of carbon accumulation
and climate appears particularly evident over the last millennium when high C
accumulation rates correlated with the warm and wet conditions of the Medieval
Climate Anomaly and lower C accumulation rates with the dry conditions of the Little
Ice Age. We also found a significant positive correlation between the rate of C
accumulation and changes in vegetation; rates were lowest (17 g C cm_2 yr_1), during
periods of mixed Sphagnum (primarily S. magellanicum and S. angustifolium) and
vascular plant (Cyperaceae, Eriophorum vaginatum) growth and increased (31 g C
cm_2 yr_1) during the accumulation of Sphagnum peat, regardless the dominant
Sphagnum species. We did not find indication of peatland fire during the investigated
interval. Our study represents one of the first investigating the carbon-sink capacity of
mountain peatlands in the Carpathians and consolidates the geographical coverage
of proxy reconstructions of hydro-climate variability in a poorly studied region. |
|
|
|
|
|
|