Emerging forest-peatland bistability and resilience of European peatland carbon stores.

ABSTRACT: Northern peatlands store large amounts of carbon. Observations indicate that forests and peatlands in northern biomes can be alternative stable states for a range of landscape settings. Climatic and hydrological changes may reduce the resilience of peatlands and forests, induce persistent shifts between these states, and release the carbon stored in peatlands. Here, we present a dynamic simulation model constrained and validated by a wide set of observations to quantify how feedbacks in water and carbon cycling control resilience of both peatlands and forests in northern landscapes. Our results show that 34% of Europe (area) has a climate that can currently sustain existing rainwater-fed peatlands (raised bogs). However, raised bog initiation and restoration by water conservation measures

SUBMITTER: van der Velde Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8463847 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature