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Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming

Gallego-Sala, Angela V. LU ; Charman, Dan J. ; Brewer, Simon ; Page, Susan E. ; Prentice, I. Colin LU ; Friedlingstein, Pierre ; Moreton, Steve ; Amesbury, Matthew J. ; Beilman, David W. and Björck, Svante LU , et al. (2018) In Nature Climate Change 8(10). p.907-913
Abstract

The carbon sink potential of peatlands depends on the balance of carbon uptake by plants and microbial decomposition. The rates of both these processes will increase with warming but it remains unclear which will dominate the global peatland response. Here we examine the global relationship between peatland carbon accumulation rates during the last millennium and planetary-scale climate space. A positive relationship is found between carbon accumulation and cumulative photosynthetically active radiation during the growing season for mid- to high-latitude peatlands in both hemispheres. However, this relationship reverses at lower latitudes, suggesting that carbon accumulation is lower under the warmest climate regimes. Projections under... (More)

The carbon sink potential of peatlands depends on the balance of carbon uptake by plants and microbial decomposition. The rates of both these processes will increase with warming but it remains unclear which will dominate the global peatland response. Here we examine the global relationship between peatland carbon accumulation rates during the last millennium and planetary-scale climate space. A positive relationship is found between carbon accumulation and cumulative photosynthetically active radiation during the growing season for mid- to high-latitude peatlands in both hemispheres. However, this relationship reverses at lower latitudes, suggesting that carbon accumulation is lower under the warmest climate regimes. Projections under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios indicate that the present-day global sink will increase slightly until around ad 2100 but decline thereafter. Peatlands will remain a carbon sink in the future, but their response to warming switches from a negative to a positive climate feedback (decreased carbon sink with warming) at the end of the twenty-first century.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Climate Change
volume
8
issue
10
pages
7 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85053496549
ISSN
1758-678X
DOI
10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d7777c61-873d-435f-8c76-8221778f12cc
date added to LUP
2018-11-13 15:03:40
date last changed
2022-04-25 18:36:17
@article{d7777c61-873d-435f-8c76-8221778f12cc,
  abstract     = {{<p>The carbon sink potential of peatlands depends on the balance of carbon uptake by plants and microbial decomposition. The rates of both these processes will increase with warming but it remains unclear which will dominate the global peatland response. Here we examine the global relationship between peatland carbon accumulation rates during the last millennium and planetary-scale climate space. A positive relationship is found between carbon accumulation and cumulative photosynthetically active radiation during the growing season for mid- to high-latitude peatlands in both hemispheres. However, this relationship reverses at lower latitudes, suggesting that carbon accumulation is lower under the warmest climate regimes. Projections under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios indicate that the present-day global sink will increase slightly until around ad 2100 but decline thereafter. Peatlands will remain a carbon sink in the future, but their response to warming switches from a negative to a positive climate feedback (decreased carbon sink with warming) at the end of the twenty-first century.</p>}},
  author       = {{Gallego-Sala, Angela V. and Charman, Dan J. and Brewer, Simon and Page, Susan E. and Prentice, I. Colin and Friedlingstein, Pierre and Moreton, Steve and Amesbury, Matthew J. and Beilman, David W. and Björck, Svante and Blyakharchuk, Tatiana and Bochicchio, Christopher and Booth, Robert K. and Bunbury, Joan and Camill, Philip and Carless, Donna and Chimner, Rodney A. and Clifford, Michael and Cressey, Elizabeth and Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin and De Vleeschouwer, François and de Jong, Rixt and Fialkiewicz-Koziel, Barbara and Finkelstein, Sarah A. and Garneau, Michelle and Githumbi, Esther and Hribjlan, John and Holmquist, James and Hughes, Paul D.M. and Jones, Chris and Jones, Miriam C. and Karofeld, Edgar and Klein, Eric S. and Kokfelt, Ulla and Korhola, Atte and Lacourse, Terri and Le Roux, Gael and Lamentowicz, Mariusz and Large, David and Lavoie, Martin and Loisel, Julie and Mackay, Helen and MacDonald, Glen M. and Makila, Markku and Magnan, Gabriel and Marchant, Robert and Marcisz, Katarzyna and Martínez Cortizas, Antonio and Massa, Charly and Mathijssen, Paul and Mauquoy, Dmitri and Mighall, Timothy and Mitchell, Fraser J.G. and Moss, Patrick and Nichols, Jonathan and Oksanen, Pirita O. and Orme, Lisa and Packalen, Maara S. and Robinson, Stephen and Roland, Thomas P. and Sanderson, Nicole K. and Sannel, A. Britta K. and Silva-Sánchez, Noemí and Steinberg, Natascha and Swindles, Graeme T. and Turner, T. Edward and Uglow, Joanna and Väliranta, Minna and van Bellen, Simon and van der Linden, Marjolein and van Geel, Bas and Wang, Guoping and Yu, Zicheng and Zaragoza-Castells, Joana and Zhao, Yan}},
  issn         = {{1758-678X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{907--913}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Climate Change}},
  title        = {{Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}