Peatlands - Research applications

Paleoenvironmental indicators

Korhola et al. 2010 Wuaternary Science Review - queried database of peat cores and basal ages to find lateral expansion of peatlands that might have contributed to atmospheric methane increase in the Holocene

Relative abundance of different plant functional types in a peatland is associated with different methane flux
Lots of emissions when peatlands are first forming, then less as they are established, based on Carbon Accumulation Rte calculated from peat bulk density
Complex pattern of atmospheric interactions, even in one peatland different plant communities can have very complex atmospheric interactions

Twopossible future peatland scenarios

Scenario 1: Warmer climate and enough moisture, productivity exceeds decomposition and we get peatland expansion
Scenario 2: Warmer climate and drought - carbon bomb
Some modelling based on global peat profiles and climate data suggests that scenario 1 is more likely until 2100 (Gallego-Sala et al 2018)
However, not the same in all sites
However, there is other data based on testate amoeba suggesting scenario 2 (widespread drying of European peatlands in recent centuries), similar data from arctic peatlands. This is bad of course....

Piilo et al. Global change biology 2022 Magnan et al. Global change biology 2021

Bryophytes (sphagnum) do not have stomata like vascular plants (sedges or trees). This means they lose more water to evapotransiration than forests. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0763-7

However sedges have roots that reach very deep and can get moisture from deep below the surface. They can also gain from moisture more than half a meter below the surface