American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 299920 bytes)    Cited by

GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, VOL. 17, NO. 1, 1029, doi:10.1029/2002GB001889, 2003

Seasonal contribution of CO2 fluxes in the annual C budget of a northern bog

Charlotte L. Roehm

Department of Geography and Center for Climate and Global Change Research, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada


Nigel T. Roulet

Department of Geography and Center for Climate and Global Change Research, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada


Abstract

Peatlands are sinks for carbon dioxide (CO2) because net primary production exceeds decomposition. The contribution of non-growing-season fluxes to the annual C budget of a peatland is, to date, little studied. We therefore measured the changes in the pattern of carbon exchange with seasons in a bog located in the cool temperate climate region. The growing season CO2-C uptake was of −113 g m−2. During the non-growing season, 36 g C m−2 was lost to the atmosphere, resulting in an estimated net ecosystem production of −76 g C m−2. Despite the non-growing-season loss equaling 33 to 40% of the summer uptake, the net annual accumulation of was 3 times the long-term average net accumulation rate usually cited in the literature. The high rate of non-growing-season efflux could be supported directly by temporal concurrent respiration and the release of stored CO2 from prior production. These results indicate the need to revise current models to address peat thermal properties inducing CO2 production at lower temperature ranges.

Published 21 March 2003.

Index Terms: 0315 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Biosphere/atmosphere interactions; 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 1610 Global Change: Atmosphere (0315, 0325); 1890 Hydrology: Wetlands.

Read Full Article (file size: 299920 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Roehm, C. L., and N. T. Roulet (2003), Seasonal contribution of CO2 fluxes in the annual C budget of a northern bog, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 17(1), 1029, doi:10.1029/2002GB001889.