Comparison of the transformation of organic matter flux through a raised bog and a blanket bog

This study has proposed that organic matter transfer and transformation into and through a peatland is dominated by preferential loss of carbohydrates and the retention of lignin-like molecules. Here we used elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis to analyse the biomass, litter, peat soil profile, particulate organic matter, and dissolved organic matter fluxes sampled from a continental raised bog in comparison a maritime blanket bog. The macromolecular composition and thermodynamic analysis showed that in the raised bog there had been little or no transformation of the organic matter and the accumulation was rapid with comparatively little transformation with only 13% loss of cellulose by 1 m depth compared to 92% removal of cellulosic material in the blanket bog. The lack of transformation is reflected in a difference in long term carbon accumulation rates between raised and blanket bog sites. We propose that raised bogs, with their lack of a stream outfall, have high stable water tables that mean the pore water become thermodynamically closed and reactions cease higher in the peat profile than in a blanket bog where sloping sites mean a frequent flushing of pore water and discharge of water leading to fluctuating water tables, flushing of reaction products and pore spaces remaining open

CO2 exchange of a temperate fen during the conversion from moderately rewetting to flooding

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 118 (2013): 940–950, doi:10.1002/jgrg.20069.Year-round flooding provides a common land management practice to reestablish the natural carbon dioxide (CO2) sink function of drained peatlands. Here we present eddy covariance measurements of net CO2 exchange from a temperate fen during three consecutive growing seasons (May–October) that span a period of conversion from moderately rewetting to flooding. When we started our measurements in 2009, the hydrological conditions were representative for the preceding 20 years with a mean growing season water level (MWGL) of 0 cm but considerably lower water levels in summer. Flooding began in 2010 with an MWGL of 36 cm above the surface. The fen was a net CO2 sink throughout all growing seasons (2009: −333.3 ± 12.3, 2010: −294.1 ± 8.4, 2011: −352.4 ± 5.1 g C m−2), but magnitudes of canopy photosynthesis (CP) and ecosystem respiration (Reco) differed distinctively. Rates of CP and Reco were high before flooding, dropped by 46% and 61%, respectively, in 2010, but increased again during the beginning of growing season 2011 until the water level started to rise further due to strong rainfalls during June and July. We assume that flooding decreases not only the CO2 release due to inhibited Reco under anaerobic conditions but also CO2 sequestration rates are constricted due to decreased CP. We conclude that rewetting might act as a disturbance for a plant community that has adapted to drier conditions after decades of drainage. However, if the recent species are still abundant, a rise in CP and autotrophic Reco can be expected after plants have developed plastic response strategies to wetter conditions.F.K. was supported by a scholarship of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) funded the collaboration with I.F.2013-12-2

Räumliche Variabilität und zeitliche Trends des Trockenstressrisikos von Kiefernstandorten in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Die Bodenwasserverfügbarkeit bestimmt zu einem hohen Maße die Vitalität von Bäumen und Waldstandorten. In einigen Teilen Euro-pas wurde in den letzten Jahrzehnten eine häufigere Anzahl von Trockenperioden beobachtet, die bereits das Baumwachstum negativ beeinflusst haben. Es wurden langfristige Trends von Bodentrockenheit unter Kiefernstandorten entlang des klimatischen Gradienten in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern mit dem physikalisch basierten Modell LWF-BROOK90 untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine zunehmende Anzahl von Trockenstresstagen ostwärts mit abnehmenden Niederschlagssummen. Die klimatischen Unterschiede innerhalb des Landes werden teilweise von den spezifischen Standortbedingungen und Bodeneigenschaften überprägt. Bodentrockenheit hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten deutlich zugenommen, wobei die östlichen Standorte stärker als die westlichen betroffen sind. Die zunehmende Bodentrockenheit konnte auf einen erhöhten Verdunstungsanspruch der Atmosphäre zurückgeführt werden aufgrund höherer Temperaturen in Kombination mit leicht abnehmenden Niederschlägen während der Sommermonate. Um die negativen Auswirkungen künftiger klimatischer Änderungen zu minimieren, sollten Anpassungsmaßnahmen vorzugsweise im Osten des Landes durchgeführt werden

Growing-season soil microbial respiration response to long-term no tillage and spring ridge tillage

No tillage (NT) and spring ridge tillage (SRT) are two common applications of conservation tillage. Although conservation tillage is known to exert major control over soil microbial respiration (SMR), the growing-season SMR response to these two applications remains elusive. In order to better understand the influence of conservation tillage practices, this experiment was conducted in an experimental field using NT and SRT for 17 years. In situ measurements of SMR, soil temperature and soil water content (SWC) were performed. Soil samples were collected to analyze soil porosity, soil microbial biomass (SMB) and soil enzymatic activities. Results show that the two conservation tillage systems had a significant difference (p0.05). Despite SRT increasing the proportion of micro-porosities and meso-porosities, the soil macro-porosities for NT were 7.37% higher than that of SRT, which resulted in higher bacteria and fungi in NT. Owing to SRT damaged the hypha, which had disadvantage in soil microbe protection. Inversely, less soil disturbance was a unique advantage in NT, which was in favor of improving soil macro-pores and SWC. Redundancy analyses (RDA) showed SMR was positively correlated with soil macro-pores, SMB and SWC. Furthermore, the Pearson correlation test indicated that SMB and soil enzymatic activities did not have a significant correlation (p>0.05). This study results suggest that SRT is more conducive to carbon sequestration compared with NT in cropland

Introduction of a guideline for measurements of greenhouse gas fluxes from soils using non-steady-state chambers

Method Soils represent a major global source and sink of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Many studies of GHG fluxes between soil, plant and atmosphere rely on chamber measurements. Different chamber techniques have been developed over the last decades, each characterised by different requirements and limitations. In this manuscript, we focus on the non-steady-state technique which is widely used for manual measurements but also in automatic systems. Although the measurement method appears very simple, experience gained over the years shows that there are many details which have to be taken into account to obtain reliable measurement results. Aim This manuscript aims to share lessons learnt and pass on experiences in order to assist the reader with possible questions or unexpected challenges, ranging from the planning of the design of studies and chambers to the practical handling of the chambers and the quality assurance of the gas and data analysis. This concise introduction refers to a more extensive Best Practice Guideline initiated by the Working Group Soil Gases (AG Bodengase) of the German Soil Science Society (Deutsche Bodenkundliche Gesellschaft). The intention was to collect and aggregate the expertise of different working groups in the research field. As a compendium, this Best Practice Guideline is intended to help both beginners and experts to meet the practical and theoretical challenges of measuring soil gas fluxes with non-steady-state chamber systems and to improve the quality of the individual flux measurements and thus entire GHG studies by reducing sources of uncertainty and error

Unraveling microbial processes involved in carbon and nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas emissions in rewetted peatlands by molecular biology

Peer reviewe

Amyloid polymorphisms constitute distinct clouds of conformational variants in different etiological subtypes of Alzheimer's disease

The molecular architecture of amyloids formed in vivo can be interrogated using luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes (LCOs), a unique class of amyloid dyes. When bound to amyloid, LCOs yield fluorescence emission spectra that reflect the 3D structure of the protein aggregates. Given that synthetic amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) has been shown to adopt distinct structural conformations with different biological activities, we asked whether Aβ can assume structurally and functionally distinct conformations within the brain. To this end, we analyzed the LCO-stained cores of β-amyloid plaques in postmortem tissue sections from frontal, temporal, and occipital neocortices in 40 cases of familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) or sporadic (idiopathic) AD (sAD). The spectral attributes of LCO-bound plaques varied markedly in the brain, but the mean spectral properties of the amyloid cores were generally similar in all three cortical regions of individual patients. Remarkably, the LCO amyloid spectra differed significantly among some of the familial and sAD subtypes, and between typical patients with sAD and those with posterior cortical atrophy AD. Neither the amount of Aβ nor its protease resistance correlated with LCO spectral properties. LCO spectral amyloid phenotypes could be partially conveyed to Aβ plaques induced by experimental transmission in a mouse model. These findings indicate that polymorphic Aβ-amyloid deposits within the brain cluster as clouds of conformational variants in different AD cases. Heterogeneity in the molecular architecture of pathogenic Aβ among individuals and in etiologically distinct subtypes of AD justifies further studies to assess putative links between Aβ conformation and clinical phenotype

Soil carbon loss from managed peatlands along a land use gradient - a comparison of three different methods

Carbon (C) loss from managed organic soils is an important flux in the global carbon cycle. Different approaches exist to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and thus the C balance of these soils. Here we compare two methods using soil profiles and a method of greenhouse gas (GHG) flux measurements using closed chambers to quantify the net C loss from managed peatlands. We applied these methods to the well-studied peatland complex Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor near Cuxhaven in northern Germany. The peatland represents a land use gradient from near-natural wetland (NW) to extensively-used grassland (GE) (rewetted in 2003/2004) to intensively-used grassland (GI). The three methods are: (i) the so-called combined method which makes use of differences in bulk density and ash content between the upper and deeper parts of the profile (ii) the C accumulation method which uses peat accumulation rates derived from 14C age-dated samples and their calculated C-stock in a certain depth and (iii) a method which gives the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) using closed chambers to quantify the GHG fluxes. Drainage at the Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor commenced at the beginning of the 20th century, and land use was intensified in the middle of the 20th century. For methods (i) and (ii), three peat cores down to approximately 100 cm at each site were taken in November 2012. These two profile-based methods give the C loss since the onset of drainage activities. Compared to this, the NECB represents the C balance (2007-2009) under present climate and management conditions. According to the profile-based methods (i and ii), all three sites have lost C since the onset of drainage in the order NW<GE<GI. Calculated total C losses are, depending on the method, about 12 kg C m−2 for site NW, 19 to 38 kg C m−2 for site GE and 43 to 53 kg C m−2 for site GI. Based on chamber-derived GHG measurements, site NW currently accumulates C, site GE shows a neutral C balance and site GI is a C source. A comparison of these methods demonstrates that the historical C loss can be assessed by the two profile-based methods, but not by the flux measurements. By contrast, present changes in the C balance are captured by the flux measurements but not by the profile-based methods. Taken together, profile-based methods and flux measurements indicate that the C balance of these peatlands, since the beginning of drainage activities, has been changing over time