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Patterns in Vegetation and CO2 Dynamics along a Water Level Gradient in a Lowland Blanket Bog

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Abstract

The surface of bogs is commonly patterned and composed of different vegetation communities, defined by water level. Carbon dioxide (CO2) dynamics vary spatially between the vegetation communities. An understanding of the controls on the spatial variation of CO2 dynamics is required to assess the role of bogs in the global carbon cycle. The water level gradient in a blanket bog was described and the CO2 exchange along the gradient investigated using chamber based measurements in combination with regression modelling. The aim was to investigate the controls on gross photosynthesis (PG), ecosystem respiration (RE) and net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) as well as the spatial and temporal variation in these fluxes. Vegetation structure was strongly controlled by water level. The species with distinctive water level optima were separated into the opposite ends of the gradient in canonical correspondence analysis. The number of species and leaf area were highest in the intermediate water level range and these communities had the highest PG. Photosynthesis was highest when the water level was 11 cm below the surface. Ecosystem respiration, which includes decomposition, was less dependent on vegetation structure and followed the water level gradient more directly. The annual NEE varied from −115 to 768 g CO2 m−2, being lowest in wet and highest in dry vegetation communities. The temporal variation was most pronounced in PG, which decreased substantially during winter, when photosynthetic photon flux density and leaf area were lowest. Ecosystem respiration, which is dependent on temperature, was less variable and wintertime RE fluxes constituted approximately 24% of the annual flux.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Environmental ERTDI Programme 2000–2006, financed by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan and administered on behalf of the Department of Environment and Local Government by the Environmental Protection Agency (CELTICFLUX 2001-CC-C2-M1). AL is funded by an Environmental Protection Agency PhD fellowship (Grant code 2002_PhD2_46). The financial support from the Academy of Finland, project code 202424, to EST is acknowledged. Thanks to David Wilson, Anna Nokso-Koivisto and Matteo Sottocornola for assistance with the field measurements and Adrian Birky for management of the weather station. The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and Ecosystems subject matter editor Dr. G. Shaver for their helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Anna Laine, Kenneth A. Byrne & Gerard Kiely

  2. Department of Forest Ecology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Eeva-Stiina Tuittila

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  1. Anna Laine
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  2. Kenneth A. Byrne
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  3. Gerard Kiely
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  4. Eeva-Stiina Tuittila
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Correspondence to Anna Laine.

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Laine, A., Byrne, K.A., Kiely, G. et al. Patterns in Vegetation and CO2 Dynamics along a Water Level Gradient in a Lowland Blanket Bog. Ecosystems 10, 890–905 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-007-9067-2

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