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| Titel |
Emissions of methane from northern peatlands: a review of management impacts and future implications |
| VerfasserIn |
Mohamed Abdalla, Astley Hastings, Ülo Mander, Pete Smith, Mats Nilsson |
| 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 |
250133600
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-14230.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Northern peatlands constitute a significant source of atmospheric methane (CH4). However, management of undisturbed peatlands, as well as restoration of disturbed peatlands, will alter the exchange of methane with the atmosphere. The aim of this literature review and meta-analysis was to collate and analyse recent literature to improve our understanding of the impacts of management on CH4 emissions from northern peatlands i.e. latitude 40 to 70o N. Results show that CH4 emissions from natural northern peatlands range from 0 to 154 g C m-2 yr-1 and the overall annual average (mean ± standard deviation) is 11.7 ± 21 g C m-2 yr-1 with the highest emissions from fen ecosystems. Drainage significantly (p<0.05) reduces CH4 emissions to the atmosphere, on average by 84%. However, restoration by rewetting of peatlands and application of N fertilizer both significantly (p<0.05) increase the emissions compared to the original pre-management CH4 fluxes. Methane emissions are mainly controlled by water table (WT) depth, plant community composition and soil pH. Although temperature is not a good predictor of CH4 emissions by itself, the interaction between temperatures, plant community cover, WT depth and soil pH is important. According to short-term forecasts of climate change, these complex interactions will be the main determinant of increased CH4 emissions from northern peatlands. However, to fully evaluate the net effect of management practice on high latitude peatlands both net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and carbon exports needs to be considered. |
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