Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming

Abstract

The carbon sink potential of peatlands depends on the balance of carbon uptake by plants and microbial decomposition. The rates of both these processes will increase with warming but it remains unclear which will dominate the global peatland response. Here we examine the global relationship between peatland carbon accumulation rates during the last millennium and planetary-scale climate space. A positive relationship is found between carbon accumulation and cumulative photosynthetically active radiation during the growing season for mid- to high-latitude peatlands in both hemispheres. However, this relationship reverses at lower latitudes, suggesting that carbon accumulation is lower under the warmest climate regimes. Projections under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios indicate that the present-day global sink will increase slightly until around ad 2100 but decline thereafter. Peatlands will remain a carbon sink in the future, but their response to warming switches from a negative to a positive climate feedback (decreased carbon sink with warming) at the end of the twenty-first century.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Gallego-Sala, A. Charman, Dan J. Brewer, Simon Page, Susan Prentice, I Colin Friedlingstein, Pierre Moreton, Steve Amesbury, Matthew J. Beilman, David W. Bjorck, S. Blyakharchuk, Tatiana Bochicchio, Christopher Booth, Robert K Bunbury, J Camill, Philip Carless, Donna Chimner, Rodney A. Clifford, Michael Cressey, Elizabeth Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin John De Vleeschouwer, F. de Jong, Rixt Fialkiewicz-Koziel, Barbara Finkelstein, S Garneau, M Githumbi, Esther Hribjlan, John Holmquist, James Hughes, Paul D M Jones, Chris Jones, Miriam C. Karofeld, Edgar Klein, Eric S. Kokfelt, Ulla Korhola, Atte Lacourse, Terri Le Roux, Gael Lamentowicz, Mariusz Large, David Lavoie, Martin Loisel, J Mackay, Helen MacDonald, Glen Makila, Markku Magnan, Gabriel Marchant, Robert https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5013-4056 Marcisz, Katarzyna Martínez-Cortizas, Antonio Massa, Charly Mathijssen, Paul Mauquoy, Dmitri Mighall, Timothy Mitchell, Fraser J. G. Moss, Patrick Nichols, Jonathan Oksanen, POK Orme, Lisa Packalen, Maara S. Robinson, Stephen J Roland, Thomas P Sanderson, Nicole K. Sannel, A. Britta K. Silva-Sánchez, Noemí Steinberg, Natascha Swindles, Graeme T. Turner, T. Edward Uglow, Joanna Väliranta, Minna Van Bellen, Simon van der Linden, Marjolein van Geel, Bas Wang, Guoping Yu, Zicheng Zaragoza-Castells, Joana Zhao, Yan
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2018, Springer Nature. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details
Keywords:	peatlands, carbon cycle, climate change, tropical peat, last millennium
Dates:	Published: 1 October 2018 Published (online): 10 September 2018 Accepted: 7 August 2018
Institution:	The University of York
Academic Units:	The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Environment and Geography (York)
Depositing User:	Pure (York)
Date Deposited:	31 Aug 2018 08:50
Last Modified:	25 Mar 2025 00:09
Published Version:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:135146

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Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming

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