Peatlands Are Drying Out Across Europe
https://eos.org/articles/peatlands-are-drying-out-across-europe
Source: By Michael Allen, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: Peatlands are some of the world’s largest reservoirs of soil carbon, but new research finds that in Europe they are drying out, putting them at risk of turning from carbon sinks to carbon sources. These wetlands are vitally important for carbon storage, holding roughly 30% of global soil carbon, despite covering only around 3% of Earth’s surface. It is their saturated surface conditions that make peatlands such effective carbon stores. When peat mosses die, they sink into this wet environment, and the low-oxygen, often acidic conditions prevent microbes that decompose plant litter elsewhere from working effectively. Instead of breaking down, the dead mosses slowly build up, trapping the carbon dioxide that they sucked out of the atmosphere during photosynthesis underground. But a new study suggests that in Europe peatland water tables are falling. In the journal Nature Geoscience [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0462-z], researchers from almost 30 institutions report that 60% of the 31 peatlands they studied were drier between 1800 and 2000 than at any point in the past 600 years. And 40% were drier than they have been for 1,000 years, whereas 24% were drier than they have been for 2,000 years....
Source: By Michael Allen, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: Peatlands are some of the world’s largest reservoirs of soil carbon, but new research finds that in Europe they are drying out, putting them at risk of turning from carbon sinks to carbon sources. These wetlands are vitally important for carbon storage, holding roughly 30% of global soil carbon, despite covering only around 3% of Earth’s surface. It is their saturated surface conditions that make peatlands such effective carbon stores. When peat mosses die, they sink into this wet environment, and the low-oxygen, often acidic conditions prevent microbes that decompose plant litter elsewhere from working effectively. Instead of breaking down, the dead mosses slowly build up, trapping the carbon dioxide that they sucked out of the atmosphere during photosynthesis underground. But a new study suggests that in Europe peatland water tables are falling. In the journal Nature Geoscience [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0462-z], researchers from almost 30 institutions report that 60% of the 31 peatlands they studied were drier between 1800 and 2000 than at any point in the past 600 years. And 40% were drier than they have been for 1,000 years, whereas 24% were drier than they have been for 2,000 years....