Abstract
Peatlands are important to global carbon (C) sequestration and surface water acid–base status, both of which are affected by peatland alkalinity and acidity cycling. Relationships among sulfate (SO4 2−), nitrate (NO3 −), organic acids (OA−), base cations (i.e., Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, and Na+), proton (H+) acidity, and bicarbonate (HCO3 −) alkalinity were investigated in an intermediate fen peatland in northern Ontario during 2004 (an average precipitation year) and 2005 (a dry summer). Potential evapotranspiration was higher and the water table, groundwater input from the uplands, and runoff were lower during 2005. Net inputs of base cations, HCO3 −, SO4 2−, and OA−, and to a lesser degree NO3 −, were lower during the drier year, mainly due to lower groundwater transfer to the fen. Fen porewater HCO3 − concentration and net output were also lower in the drier year, whereas Ca2+, Mg2+, and SO4 2− concentrations and net output were higher. During the climatically average year, N immobilization, carbonic acid (H2CO3) dissociation, and OA dissociation were equally important H+-producing reactions. Peat cation exchange accounted for 50% of the H+ sink, while SO4 2− reduction and denitrification accounted for an additional 20 and 25% of the H+ sink, respectively. During the dry year, S oxidation accounted for 55% of the H+ net production, while that for H2CO3 dissociation was 70% lower than that during the climatically average year. Peat cation exchange consumed three times the acidity, and accounted for 92% of the H+ consumption during the dry year compared to the climatically average year. This was consistent with a three-fold higher net base cation export from the fen during the dry year. Based on the study results, a conceptual model was developed that describes the role of acidity formation and its implications to intermediate fen acidification.
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Acknowledgments
Support for this project was provided by the Ontario Forest Research Institute (OFRI), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, under the auspices of project CC-167. The authors also thank Dr. Sherry Schiff of the University of Waterloo for the δ13DIC analyses, Dr. Dean Jeffries of Environment Canada for access to the Turkey Lakes Watershed precipitation data, and Sandra Wawryszyn, Lisa Buse, Ted Atkinson, John Ralston, Maara Packalen, Shawn Dagenais, Ravi Kanipayor, and Trudy Vaittinen for their assistance with various aspects of the project.
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McLaughlin, J.W., Webster, K.L. Alkalinity and acidity cycling and fluxes in an intermediate fen peatland in northern Ontario. Biogeochemistry 99, 143–155 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-009-9398-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-009-9398-5