Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Holocene peatland development and carbon stock of Zoige peatlands, Tibetan Plateau: a modeling approach

Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the many studies about peatland development and carbon dynamics in China, especially for Zoige peatlands on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, few apply modeling as an effective approach to study peatland development. In order to fill up the knowledge gaps of China alpine peatland development and to provide a comparison with previous research, we studied the Zoige peatlands in Holocene with a modeling approach.

Materials and methods

Simulated results were obtained by the Holocene peatland model (HPM). Driving data was reconstructed based on paleoclimate studies. Model calibration and performance index validation were done by comparing the model output with literature data about peat age depth.

Results and discussion

Based on our results, the peat cohort mass mean accumulation rate was 0.45 mm year−1 (ranging from 0.38 to 0.50 mm year−1). The mean C accumulation rate was about 0.026 kg C m−2 year−1 (ranging from 0.023 to 0.029 kg C m−2 year−1), with a peak accumulation rate around 7 ka to 6 ka BP during the Holocene. The peat depth was 5.38 m (ranging from 4.6 to 5.99 m). The total peat storage in Zoige was about 1.76 Pg (ranging from 1.58 to 2.29 pg), and the carbon stock was estimated as 0.432 pg C (ranging from 0.348 to 0.479 pg C) in Zoige peatlands during the Holocene. After model calibration and validation, simulated results indicated that peat development and carbon accumulation were controlled by variation of water table depth (WTD).

Conclusions

Simulated results indicated that the Zoige peatlands are the most important component of peatlands in China in terms of carbon stock. Though HPM lacks in driving data of temperature and incomplete climate factors, its limitations in the parameter setting should not offset the added value of the modeling approach in improving our understanding of peatland carbon and their controlling factor dynamics at the long-term scales in the Zoige region where there are very few studies so far.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price includes VAT (Canada)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Baird A, Low R, Young D, Swindles G, Lopez O, Page S (2017) High permeability explains the vulnerability of the carbon store in drained tropical peatlands. Geophys Res Lett 44:1333–1339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer IE (2004) Modelling effects of litter quality and environment on peat accumulation over different time-scales. J Ecol 92:661–674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belyea LR, Baird AJ (2006) Beyond “the limits to peat bog growth”: cross-scale feedback in peatland development. Ecol Monogr 76:299–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billett MF, Garnett MH, Dinsmore KJ, Dyson KE, Harvey F, Thomson AM, Piirainen S, Kortelainen P (2012) Age and source of different forms of carbon released from boreal peatland streams during spring snowmelt in E. Finland. Biogeochemistry 111:273–286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cai X (1981) The formation and types of peat in China and the law of governing its distribution. Acta Geograph Sin 36:237–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Cai X, Jin S (1963) Mire types and their development on the Zoige Plateau. Acta Geograph Sin 29:219–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen H, Yao S, Wu N, Wang Y, Luo P, Tian J, Gao Y, Sun G (2008) Determinants influencing seasonal variations of methane emissions from alpine wetlands in Zoige Plateau and their implications. J Geophys Res Atmos 113(D12). https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008072

  • Chen H, Zhu Q, Peng C, Wu N, Wang Y, Fang X, Gao Y, Zhu D, Yang G, Tian J (2013) The impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Glob Chang Biol 19:2940–2955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen H, Yang G, Peng C, Zhang Y, Zhu D, Zhu Q, Hu J, Wang M, Zhan W, Zhu E (2014) The carbon stock of alpine peatlands on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau during the Holocene and their future fate. Quat Sci Rev 95:151–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clymo R (1984) The limits to peat bog growth. Philos T R Soc B 303:605–654

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb AR, Hoyt AM, Gandois L, Eri J, Dommain R, Salim KA, Kai FM, Su’ut NS, Harvey CF (2017) How temporal patterns in rainfall determine the geomorphology and carbon fluxes of tropical peatlands. Proc Natl Acad Sci. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1701090114

  • Dise NB (2009) Peatland response to global change. Science 326:810–811

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dommain R, Couwenberg J, Joosten H (2011) Development and carbon sequestration of tropical peat domes in south-east Asia: links to post-glacial sea-level changes and Holocene climate variability. Quat Sci Rev 30:999–1010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frolking S, Roulet NT, Moore TR, Richard PJ, Lavoie M, Muller SD (2001) Modeling northern peatland decomposition and peat accumulation. Ecosystems 4:479–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frolking S, Roulet NT, Moore TR, Lafleur PM, Bubier JL, Crill PM (2002) Modeling seasonal to annual carbon balance of Mer Bleue Bog, Ontario, Canada. Glob Biogeochem Cy 16:4-1–4-21

    Google Scholar 

  • Frolking S, Roulet N, Tuittila E, Bubier J, Quillet A, Talbot J, Richard P (2010) A new model of Holocene peatland net primary production, decomposition, water balance, and peat accumulation. Earth Syst Dynam 1:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorham E (1991) Northern peatlands: role in the carbon cycle and probable responses to climatic warming. Ecol Appl 1:182–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grootjans A, Adema E, Bleuten W, Joosten H, Madaras M, Janáková M (2006) Hydrological landscape settings of base-rich fen mires and fen meadows: an overview. Appl Veg Sci 9:175–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilbert DW, Roulet N, Moore T (2000) Modelling and analysis of peatlands as dynamical systems. J Ecol 88:230–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmquist JR, Booth RK, MacDonald GM (2016) Boreal peatland water table depth and carbon accumulation during the Holocene thermal maximum, Roman warm period, and medieval climate anomaly. Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 444:15–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ise T, Dunn AL, Wofsy SC, Moorcroft PR (2008) High sensitivity of peat decomposition to climate change through water-table feedback. Nat Geosci 1:763–766

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jauhiainen J, Hooijer A, Page S (2012) Carbon dioxide emissions from an Acacia plantation on peatland in Sumatra, Indonesia. Biogeosciences 9:617–630

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones MC, Yu Z (2010) Rapid deglacial and early Holocene expansion of peatlands in Alaska. Proc Natl Acad Sci 107:7347–7352

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kurnianto S, Warren M, Talbot J, Kauffman B, Murdiyarso D, Frolking S (2015) Carbon accumulation of tropical peatlands over millennia: a modeling approach. Glob Chang Biol 21:431–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Limpens J, Berendse F, Blodau C, Canadell J, Freeman C, Holden J, Roulet N, Rydin H, Schaepman-Strub G (2008) Peatlands and the carbon cycle: from local processes to global implications–a synthesis. Biogeosciences 5:1475–1491

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu G, Shen Y, Wang R, Wang S (1995) The vegetation and climatic changes in Zoige during the last 20 000 years determined by pollen records. J Glaciol Geocryol 17:132–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu G, Shi Y, Shen Y, Hong M (1997) Holocence Megathermal environment in the Tibetan Plateau. J Glaciol Geocryol 19:114–123

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma X (2013) Carbon reserves and emissions of peatlands in China. Chinese Forestry Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma X, Xia Y, Wang R (1987) A study of the peat-forming periods in China. Geogr Res 6:31–42

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald GM, Beilman DW, Kremenetski KV, Sheng Y, Smith LC, Velichko AA (2006) Rapid early development of circumarctic peatlands and atmospheric CH4 and CO2 variations. Science 314:285–288

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mezbahuddin M, Grant R, Flanagan L (2016) Modeling hydrological controls on variations in peat water content, water table depth and surface energy exchange of a boreal Western Canadian fen peatland. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 121:2216–2242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore T, Knowles R (1989) The influence of water table levels on methane and carbon dioxide emissions from peatland soils. Can J Soil Sci 69:33–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Running SW, Nemani RR, Heinsch FA, Zhao M, Reeves M, Hashimoto H (2004) A continuous satellite-derived measure of global terrestrial primary production. AIBS Bull 54:547–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Schot P, Dekker S, Poot A (2004) The dynamic form of rainwater lenses in drained fens. J Hydrol 293:74–84

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon S (2007) Climate change 2007-the physical science basis: Working group I contribution to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC, 4. Cambridge University Press

  • St-Hilaire F, Wu J, Roulet N, Frolking S, Lafleur P, Humphreys E, Arora V (2008) McGill wetland model: evaluation of a peatland carbon simulator developed for global assessments. Biogeosci Discuss 5:1689–1725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun G (1992) A study on the mineral formation law, classification and reserves of the peat in the Ruoergai plateau. J Nat Res 7:334–345

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun G, Zhang W (1987) Old channels of the Huanghe River on Ruoergai Plateau and its palaeogeographic significance. Sci Geogr Sin 7(3):266–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun G, Zhang W, Zhang J, Luo J, Yang F (1987) A study of ecological environment and rational exploitation of the mire in Ruoergai Plateau. J Nat Res 2:359–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun G, Luo X, Turner R (2001) A study on peat deposition chronology of Holocene of Zorge plateau in the northeast Qing Hai-Tibetan Plateau. Acta Sedimentol Sin 19:177–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang L, Li C (2001) Temporal-spatial distribution of the Holocene vegetation in the Tibetan Plateau. J Glaciol Geocryol 23:367–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Turunen J, Tomppo E, Tolonen K, Reinikainen A (2002) Estimating carbon accumulation rates of undrained mires in Finland—application to boreal and subarctic regions. The Holocene 12:69–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Hong Y, Zhu Y, Lin Q, Leng X, Mao X (2003) The peat humification records of Holocene climate change in Hongyuan region. Geol Geochem 31:51–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Zhao Z, Qiao Y, Wang S, Li C, Song L (2006) Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental evolution since the late glacial epoch as recorded by sporopollen from the Hongyuan peat section on the Zoige Plateau, northern Sichuan. Geol Bull China 25:827–832

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang M, Liu Z, Ma X, Wang G (2012) Division of organic carbon reserves of peatlands in China. Wetl Sci 10:156–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang M, Chen H, Wu N, Peng C, Zhu Q, Zhu D, Yang G, Wu J, He Y, Gao Y (2014) Carbon dynamics of peatlands in China during the Holocene. Quat Sci Rev 99:34–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang M, Yang G, Gao Y, Chen H, Wu N, Peng C, Zhu Q, Zhu D, Wu J, He Y (2015) Higher recent peat C accumulation than that during the Holocene on the Zoige Plateau. Quat Sci Rev 114:116–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Zhuang Q, Yu Z, Bridgham S, Keller JK (2016) Quantifying peat carbon accumulation in Alaska using a process-based biogeochemistry model. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 121:2172–2185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wassen M, Barendregt A, Palczynski A, De Smidt J, De Mars H (1990) The relationship between fen vegetation gradients, groundwater flow and flooding in an undrained valley mire at Biebrza, Poland. J Ecol 78:1106–1122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu J (2012) Response of peatland development and carbon cycling to climate change: a dynamic system modeling approach. Environ Earth Sci 65:141–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Blodau C (2013) PEATBOG: a biogeochemical model for analyzing coupled carbon and nitrogen dynamics in northern peatlands. Geosci Model Dev 6:1173–1207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu Z (2006) Holocene carbon accumulation of fen peatlands in boreal western Canada: a complex ecosystem response to climate variation and disturbance. Ecosystems 9:1278–1288

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu Z (2012) Northern peatland carbon stocks and dynamics: a review. Biogeosciences 9:4071–4085

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu X, Zhou W, Franzen LG, Xian F, Cheng P, Jull AT (2006) High-resolution peat records for Holocene monsoon history in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Sci China Ser D 49:615–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu Z, Beilman DW, Jones MC (2009) Sensitivity of northern peatland carbon dynamics to Holocene climate change. Carbon cycling in northern peatlands, pp 55–69

  • Yu Z, Loisel J, Brosseau DP, Beilman DW, Hunt SJ (2010) Global peatland dynamics since the Last Glacial Maximum. Geophys Res Lett 37 (13). doi https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043584

  • Zhang Z, Xing W, Wang G, Tong S, Lv X, Sun J (2015) The peatlands developing history in the Sanjiang Plain, NE China, and its response to East Asian monsoon variation. Sci Rep 5:11316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y, Yu Z, Zhao W (2011) Holocene vegetation and climate histories in the eastern Tibetan Plateau: controls by insolation-driven temperature or monsoon-derived precipitation changes? Quat Sci Rev 30:1173–1184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y, Yu Z, Tang Y, Li H, Yang B, Li F, Zhao W, Sun J, Chen J, Li Q (2014) Peatland initiation and carbon accumulation in China over the last 50,000 years. Earth-Sci Rev 128:139–146

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou W, Lu X, Wu Z, Deng L, Jull A, Donahue D, Beck W (2002) Peat record reflecting Holocene climatic change in the Zoigê Plateau and AMS radiocarbon dating. Chin Sci Bull 47:66–70

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou W, YU SY, Burr GS, Kukla GJ, Jull A, Xian F, Xiao J, Colman SM, Yu H, Liu Z (2010) Postglacial changes in the Asian summer monsoon system: a pollen record from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Boreas 39:528–539

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFC0501804), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (QYZDB-SSW-DQC007), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 31570480 and 41571220). Four anonymous reviewers are thanked for their detailed evaluation and suggestion on our manuscript. The authors give special thanks to Ms. Wan Xiong for her editing and valuable comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Xinwei Liu, Huai Chen, Dan Zhu, Mei Wang, Ning Wu & Yixin He

  2. Zoige Peatland and Global Change Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hongyuan, 624400, China

    Xinwei Liu, Huai Chen, Dan Zhu, Mei Wang, Ning Wu & Yixin He

  3. University of Chinese Academy of sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xinwei Liu

  4. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Qiuan Zhu & Changhui Peng

  5. Sustainable Resource Management, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, A2H 6P9, Canada

    Jianghua Wu & Mei Wang

  6. Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space and Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Steve Frolking

  7. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Ning Wu

Authors
  1. Xinwei Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Huai Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Qiuan Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jianghua Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Steve Frolking
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dan Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Mei Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Ning Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Changhui Peng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Yixin He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huai Chen.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Arnaud Temme

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 23 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, X., Chen, H., Zhu, Q. et al. Holocene peatland development and carbon stock of Zoige peatlands, Tibetan Plateau: a modeling approach. J Soils Sediments 18, 2032–2043 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-1960-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-1960-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation