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

Angela Gallego-Sala; Dan Charman; Simon Brewer; Sue Page; I. Colin Prentice; Pierre Friedlingstein; Steven Morley; Matthew Amesbury; David Beilman; Svante Bjorck; Tatiana Blyakharchuk; Christopher Bochicchio; Robert K Booth; Joan Bunbury; Philip Camill; Donna Carless; Rodney A. Chimner; Michael Clifford; Elizabeth Cressey; Colin Courtney-Mustaphi; Francois De Vleeschouwer; Rixt de Jong; Barbara Fialkiawicz-Koziel; Sarah A Finkelstein; Michelle Garneau; Esther N. Githumbi; John Hribjlan; James Holmquist; Paul Hughes; Chris D. Jones; Miriam Jones; Edgar Karofeld; Eric S. Klein; Ulla Kokfelt; Atte Korhola; Terri Lacourse; Gael LeRoux; Mariusz Lamentowicz; David Large; Martin Lavoie; Julie Loisel; Helen MacKay; Glen M. MacDonald; Markku Makila; Gabriel Magnan; R. Marchant; Katarzyna Marcisz; Antonio Martinez-Cortizas; Charly Massa; Paul Mathijssen; Dmitri Mauquoy; Timothy Mighall; Fraser J.G. Mitchell; Patrick Moss; J. Nichols; P.O. Oksanen; L. Orme; Maara S. Packalen; Stephen Robinson; Thomas P. Roland; Nicole K. Sanderson; A. B. K. Sannel; Noemi Silva-Sanchez; Natasha Steinberg; Graeme T. Swindles; T. Edward Turner; Joanna Uglow; M. Valiranta; Simon van Bellen; Marjolein van der Linden; Guoping Wang; Zicheng Yu; Joana Zaragoza-Castells; Yan Zhao

doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1

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

Nature Climate Change

By: Angela Gallego-Sala, Dan Charman, Simon Brewer, Sue Page, I. Colin Prentice, Pierre Friedlingstein, Steven Morley, Matthew Amesbury, David Beilman, Svante Bjorck, Tatiana Blyakharchuk, Christopher Bochicchio, Robert K Booth, Joan Bunbury, Philip Camill, Donna Carless, Rodney A. Chimner, Michael Clifford, Elizabeth Cressey, Colin Courtney-Mustaphi, Francois De Vleeschouwer, Rixt de Jong, Barbara Fialkiawicz-Koziel, Sarah A Finkelstein, Michelle Garneau, Esther N. Githumbi, John Hribjlan, James Holmquist, Paul Hughes, Chris D. Jones, Miriam Jones, Edgar Karofeld, Eric S. Klein, Ulla Kokfelt, Atte Korhola, Terri Lacourse, Gael LeRoux, Mariusz Lamentowicz, David Large, Martin Lavoie, Julie Loisel, Helen MacKay, Glen M. MacDonald, Markku Makila, Gabriel Magnan, R. Marchant, Katarzyna Marcisz, Antonio Martinez-Cortizas, Charly Massa, Paul Mathijssen, Dmitri Mauquoy, Timothy Mighall, Fraser J.G. Mitchell, Patrick Moss, J. Nichols, P.O. Oksanen, L. Orme, Maara S. Packalen, Stephen Robinson, Thomas P. Roland, Nicole K. Sanderson, A. B. K. Sannel, Noemi Silva-Sanchez, Natasha Steinberg, Graeme T. Swindles, T. Edward Turner, Joanna Uglow, M. Valiranta, Simon van Bellen, Marjolein van der Linden, Guoping Wang, Zicheng Yu, Joana Zaragoza-Castells, and Yan Zhao

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1

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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 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.

Suggested Citation

Gallego-Sala, A., Charman, D., Brewer, S., Page, S., Prentice, I.C., Friedlingstein, P., Morley, S., Amesbury, M., Beilman, D., Bjorck, S., Blyakharchuk, T., Bochicchio, C., Booth, R.K., Bunbury, J., Camill, P., Carless, D., Chimner, R.A., Clifford, M., Cressey, E., Courtney-Mustaphi, C., De Vleeschouwer, F., de Jong, R., Fialkiawicz-Koziel, B., Finkelstein, S., Garneau, M., Githumbi, E.N., Hribjlan, J., Holmquist, J., Hughes, P., Jones, C.D., Jones, M., Karofeld, E., Klein, E.S., Kokfelt, U., Korhola, A., Lacourse, T., LeRoux, G., Lamentowicz, M., Large, D., Lavoie, M., Loisel, J., MacKay, H., MacDonald, G.M., Makila, M., Magnan, G., Marchant, R., Marcisz, K., Martinez-Cortizas, A., Massa, C., Mathijssen, P., Mauquoy, D., Mighall, T., Mitchell, F.J., Moss, P., Nichols, J., Oksanen, P., Orme, L., Packalen, M.S., Robinson, S., Roland, T.P., Sanderson, N.K., Sannel, A.B., Silva-Sanchez, N., Steinberg, N., Swindles, G.T., Turner, T.E., Uglow, J., Valiranta, M., van Bellen, S., van der Linden, M., Wang, G., Yu, Z., Zaragoza-Castells, J., Zhao, Y., 2018, Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming: Nature Climate Change, v. 8, p. 907-913, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1.

ISSN: 1758-6798 (online)

Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming
Series title	Nature Climate Change
DOI	10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1
Volume	8
Publication Date	September 10, 2018
Year Published	2018
Language	English
Publisher	Nature
Contributing office(s)	Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Description	7 p.
First page	907
Last page	913