@misc{HodgkinsRichardsonDommainetal.2018, author = {Hodgkins, Suzanne B. and Richardson, Curtis J. and Dommain, Ren{\´e} and Wang, Hongjun and Glaser, Paul H. and Verbeke, Brittany and Winkler, B. Rose and Cobb, Alexander R. and Rich, Virginia I. and Missilmani, Malak and Flanagan, Neal and Ho, Mengchi and Hoyt, Alison M. and Harvey, Charles F. and Vining, S. Rose and Hough, Moira A. and Moore, Tim R. and Richard, Pierre J. H. and De La Cruz, Florentino B. and Toufaily, Joumana and Hamdan, Rasha and Cooper, William T. and Chanton, Jeffrey P.}, title = {Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {1125}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-45965}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-459658}, pages = {15}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Peatlands represent large terrestrial carbon banks. Given that most peat accumulates in boreal regions, where low temperatures and water saturation preserve organic matter, the existence of peat in (sub)tropical regions remains enigmatic. Here we examined peat and plant chemistry across a latitudinal transect from the Arctic to the tropics. Near-surface low-latitude peat has lower carbohydrate and greater aromatic content than near-surface high-latitude peat, creating a reduced oxidation state and resulting recalcitrance. This recalcitrance allows peat to persist in the (sub)tropics despite warm temperatures. Because we observed similar declines in carbohydrate content with depth in high-latitude peat, our data explain recent field-scale deep peat warming experiments in which catotelm (deeper) peat remained stable despite temperature increases up to 9 degrees C. We suggest that high-latitude deep peat reservoirs may be stabilized in the face of climate change by their ultimately lower carbohydrate and higher aromatic composition, similar to tropical peats.}, language = {en} } @article{HodgkinsRichardsonDommainetal.2018, author = {Hodgkins, Suzanne B. and Richardson, Curtis J. and Dommain, Rene and Wang, Hongjun and Glaser, Paul H. and Verbeke, Brittany and Winkler, B. Rose and Cobb, Alexander R. and Rich, Virginia I. and Missilmani, Malak and Flanagan, Neal and Ho, Mengchi and Hoyt, Alison M. and Harvey, Charles F. and Vining, S. Rose and Hough, Moira A. and Moore, Tim R. and Richard, Pierre J. H. and De la Cruz, Florentino B. and Toufaily, Joumana and Hamdan, Rasha and Cooper, William T. and Chanton, Jeffrey P.}, title = {Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {9}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-06050-2}, pages = {13}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Peatlands represent large terrestrial carbon banks. Given that most peat accumulates in boreal regions, where low temperatures and water saturation preserve organic matter, the existence of peat in (sub)tropical regions remains enigmatic. Here we examined peat and plant chemistry across a latitudinal transect from the Arctic to the tropics. Near-surface low-latitude peat has lower carbohydrate and greater aromatic content than near-surface high-latitude peat, creating a reduced oxidation state and resulting recalcitrance. This recalcitrance allows peat to persist in the (sub)tropics despite warm temperatures. Because we observed similar declines in carbohydrate content with depth in high-latitude peat, our data explain recent field-scale deep peat warming experiments in which catotelm (deeper) peat remained stable despite temperature increases up to 9 degrees C. We suggest that high-latitude deep peat reservoirs may be stabilized in the face of climate change by their ultimately lower carbohydrate and higher aromatic composition, similar to tropical peats.}, language = {en} } @article{DommainFrolkingJeltschThoemmesetal.2018, author = {Dommain, Ren{\´e} and Frolking, Steve and Jeltsch-Th{\"o}mmes, Aurich and Joos, Fortunat Ulrich and Couwenberg, John and Glaser, Paul H.}, title = {A radiative forcing analysis of tropical peatlands before and after their conversion to agricultural plantations}, series = {Global change biology}, volume = {24}, journal = {Global change biology}, number = {11}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1354-1013}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.14400}, pages = {5518 -- 5533}, year = {2018}, abstract = {The tropical peat swamp forests of South-East Asia are being rapidly converted to agricultural plantations of oil palm and Acacia creating a significant global "hot-spot" for CO2 emissions. However, the effect of this major perturbation has yet to be quantified in terms of global warming potential (GWP) and the Earth's radiative budget. We used a GWP analysis and an impulse-response model of radiative forcing to quantify the climate forcing of this shift from a long-term carbon sink to a net source of greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4). In the GWP analysis, five tropical peatlands were sinks in terms of their CO2 equivalent fluxes while they remained undisturbed. However, their drainage and conversion to oil palm and Acacia plantations produced a dramatic shift to very strong net CO2-equivalent sources. The induced losses of peat carbon are ~20× greater than the natural CO2 sequestration rates. In contrast, a radiative forcing model indicates that the magnitude of this shift from a net cooling to warming effect is ultimately related to the size of an individual peatland's carbon pool. The continuous accumulation of carbon in pristine tropical peatlands produced a progressively negative radiative forcing (i.e., cooling) that ranged from -2.1 to -6.7 nW/m2 per hectare peatland by 2010 CE, referenced to zero at the time of peat initiation. Peatland conversion to plantations leads to an immediate shift from negative to positive trend in radiative forcing (i.e., warming). If drainage persists, peak warming ranges from +3.3 to +8.7 nW/m2 per hectare of drained peatland. More importantly, this net warming impact on the Earth's radiation budget will persist for centuries to millennia after all the peat has been oxidized to CO2. This previously unreported and undesirable impact on the Earth's radiative balance provides a scientific rationale for conserving tropical peatlands in their pristine state.}, language = {en} }