Sloan, T.J. orcid.org/0000-0002-3275-3555, Ratcliffe, J., Anderson, R. et al. (7 more authors) (2024) Potential for large losses of carbon from non-native conifer plantations on deep peat over decadal timescales. Science of The Total Environment, 953. 175964. ISSN 0048-9697
Abstract
Peatland drainage is a large source of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. While conversion to agriculture is widely acknowledged to lead to “irrecoverable” carbon (C) losses, in contrast the C impacts of peatland forestry are poorly understood, especially in intensively managed plantations. Losses of C from peat oxidation are highly variable and can be compensated for by gains of C in trees, depending on the lifecycle of the timber and timescale considered. Here, we used ITRAX scanning to enable rapid detection of the Hekla 4 cryptotephra layer as a reliable chronological marker above which peat properties and C stocks could be compared between open and afforested blanket bog cores in the Flow Country of Northern Scotland. At one site, Bad a’ Cheò, we combine replicated core pair comparisons (n = 19) with timber extraction data to derive net ecosystem C balance over the lifetime of the plantation. Here the reduction in peat C carbon storage above Hekla 4 in afforested samples (67 t C ha⁻¹) is only partially compensated by tree C sequestration (47 t C ha⁻¹), leading to a net ecosystem C balance indicating a loss of 20 t C ha⁻¹over the 50 years since the plantation was established. At that site, ∼65 % of tree C rapidly returned to the atmosphere, as it was primarily used for heat and power generation. Across the wider Flow country region, a simplified paired sampling method was adopted at eight further sites, finding a either a loss or negligible change in peat C storage above Hekla 4 in afforested samples with a mean loss of 86 t C ha⁻¹ and median loss of 50 t C ha⁻¹. This study suggests that potentially substantial C losses have been an unintended consequence of non-native conifer afforestation over deep blanket bogs.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Blanket bog; Bulk density; C stocks; Drainage; Forestry; Tephrochronology |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Feb 2025 11:50 |
Last Modified: | 18 Feb 2025 11:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175964 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:223439 |