Diverse fen plant communities enhance carbon-related multifunctionality, but do not mitigate negative effects of drought.

ABSTRACT: Global change, like droughts, can destabilize the carbon sink function of peatlands, either directly or indirectly through changes in plant community composition. While the effects of drought and plant community composition on individual carbon (C) related processes are well understood, their effect on multiple C-related processes simultaneously-multifunctionality-is poorly known. We studied the effect of drought on four C-related processes (net and gross CO₂ exchange, methane fluxes, and dissolved organic carbon content) in a plant removal experiment. Plant functional type (PFT) removal (graminoids, herbs, Polytrichum spp., incl. combinations) negatively affected multifunctionality; most markedly when all PFTs were removed. Our results corroborate a negative drought effe

SUBMITTER: Robroek BJM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5666246 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature