Warming and elevated CO 2 promote rapid incorporation and degradation of plant-derived organic matter in an ombrotrophic peatland.

Autor: Ofiti NOE; Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland., Solly EF; Group for Sustainable Agroecosystems, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland., Hanson PJ; Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA., Malhotra A; Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland., Wiesenberg GLB; Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland., Schmidt MWI; Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Global change biology [Glob Chang Biol] 2022 Feb; Vol. 28 (3), pp. 883-898. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Nov 08.
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15955
Abstrakt: Rising temperatures have the potential to directly affect carbon cycling in peatlands by enhancing organic matter (OM) decomposition, contributing to the release of CO 2 and CH 4 to the atmosphere. In turn, increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentration may stimulate photosynthesis, potentially increasing plant litter inputs belowground and transferring carbon from the atmosphere into terrestrial ecosystems. Key questions remain about the magnitude and rate of these interacting and opposing environmental change drivers. Here, we assess the incorporation and degradation of plant- and microbe-derived OM in an ombrotrophic peatland after 4 years of whole-ecosystem warming (+0, +2.25, +4.5, +6.75 and +9°C) and two years of elevated CO 2  manipulation (500 ppm above ambient). We show that OM molecular composition was substantially altered in the aerobic acrotelm, highlighting the sensitivity of acrotelm carbon to rising temperatures and atmospheric CO 2 concentration. While warming accelerated OM decomposition under ambient CO 2 , new carbon incorporation into peat increased in warming × elevated CO 2 treatments for both plant- and microbe-derived OM. Using the isotopic signature of the applied CO 2 enrichment as a label for recently photosynthesized OM, our data demonstrate that new plant inputs have been rapidly incorporated into peat carbon. Our results suggest that under current hydrological conditions, rising temperatures and atmospheric CO 2  levels will likely offset each other in boreal peatlands.
(© 2021 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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