Colson, D.W. orcid.org/0000-0003-0690-7167, Morris, P.J., Smith, M.W. et al. (3 more authors) (2024) Six decades of changes in pool characteristics on a concentric-patterned raised bog. Ecosystems, 27 (2). pp. 278-294. ISSN 1432-9840
Abstract
Raised bogs are wetland ecosystems which, under the right climatic conditions, feature patterns of pool hollows and hummock ridges. The relative cover and the spatial arrangement of pool and ridge microforms are thought to be influential on peatland atmosphere carbon gas fluxes and plant biodiversity. The mechanisms responsible for the formation and maintenance of pools, and the stability of these features in response to warming climates, remain topics of ongoing research. We employed historical aerial imagery, combined with a contemporary uncrewed aerial vehicle survey, to study 61 years of changes in pools at a patterned raised bog in central Sweden. We used a pool inheritance method to track individual pools between image acquisition dates throughout the time series. These data show a rapid loss of open-water pool area during the study period, primarily due to overgrowth of open-water pools by Sphagnum. We postulate that these changes are driven by ongoing climate warming that is accelerating Sphagnum colonisation. Open-water pool area declined by 26.8% during the study period, equivalent to a loss of 1001 m2 y−1 across the 150-hectare site. This is contradictory to an existing theory that states pools are highly stable, once formed, and can only convert to a terrestrial state through catastrophic drainage. The pool inheritance analysis shows that smaller pools are liable to become completely terrestrialised and expire. Our findings form part of a growing body of evidence for the loss of open-water habitats in peatlands across the boreal and elsewhere.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s) This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Concentric bog; Peatland; Infilling; Pool dynamics; Remote sensing; Sphagnum |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 Nov 2023 17:20 |
Last Modified: | 21 Oct 2024 14:24 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10021-023-00889-3 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:205703 |