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Multi-decadal Changes in Water Table Levels Alter Peatland Carbon Cycling

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Abstract

Globally, peatlands store a large quantity of soil carbon that can be subsequently modified by hydrologic alterations from land-use change and climate change. However, there are many uncertainties in predicting how carbon cycling and greenhouse gas emissions are altered by long-term changes in hydrology. Therefore, the goal of this study was to quantify how multi-decadal manipulations of water table (WT) levels affected carbon cycling (plant production and net ecosystem exchange from three eddy covariance towers) in a peatland complex modified by levee construction, which created a wetter area up-gradient of the levee (mean WT was 12.1 cm below the surface), a dry area below the levee (36.8 cm), and an adjacent reference site not affected by the levee (21.6 cm). We found that mean total plant production was greatest in the reference site (311.9 g C m−2 y−1), followed by the dry site (290.5 g C m−2 y−1), and lowest in the wet site (227.1 g C m−2 y−1). Net ecosystem exchange during the growing season was negative for all sites (sink), with the wet site having the greatest sink and the dry site having the lowest sink. Ecosystem respiration increased and CH4 emissions decreased with a decreasing WT level. This research demonstrates that human alteration of peatland WT levels can have long-term (>50 years) consequences on peatland carbon cycling.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Robin Conklin, Elizabeth Boisvert, Laura Kangas, Jamie Bourgo, Chris Johnson, Drew Ballantyne, and Laura Matkala for their help with site construction, as well as field and lab work. We greatly appreciate two anonymous reviewers for improving the quality of this paper. Todd Ontl also provided thoughtful comments and review of this manuscript. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (BER) through the Midwestern Regional Center of the National Institute for Climatic Change Research at Michigan Technological University. Additional support was provided by the Ecosystem Science Center at Michigan Technological University. The project would not have been possible without the cooperation of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge providing site access.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, Michigan, 49931, USA

    Rodney A. Chimner, Thomas G. Pypker & John A. Hribljan

  2. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, V2C 0C8, Canada

    Thomas G. Pypker

  3. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Paul A. Moore & James M. Waddington

Authors
  1. Rodney A. Chimner
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  2. Thomas G. Pypker
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  3. John A. Hribljan
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  4. Paul A. Moore
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  5. James M. Waddington
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Correspondence to Rodney A. Chimner.

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Author contributions

RA Chimner, JA Hribljan, JM Waddington designed the study. JA Hribljan, TG Pypker, PA Moore performed field research. RA Chimner, JA Hribljan, JM Waddington, PA Moore, TG Pypker analyzed data and wrote the manuscript.

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Chimner, R.A., Pypker, T.G., Hribljan, J.A. et al. Multi-decadal Changes in Water Table Levels Alter Peatland Carbon Cycling. Ecosystems 20, 1042–1057 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0092-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0092-x

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