Past and present carbon dynamics in contrasting South Patagonian bog ecosystems

Moore akkumulieren enorme Mengen an Kohlenstoff und sind gleichzeitig bedeutende natürliche Quellen für Methan. Im Gegensatz zu Mooren der Nordhalbkugel dominieren neben Torfmoosen polsterbildende Gefäßpflanzen seit Jahrtausenden natürlicherweise die Moorvegetation der Südhalbkugel. Diese sogenannten Polstermoore bieten daher die einzigartige Möglichkeit, langfristige Auswirkungen von Gefäßpflanzen auf die Speicherfunktion von Mooren sowie auf das Zusammenspiel zwischen Rhizosphäre und Methandynamiken zu untersuchen. Diese Arbeit bestätigt die Bedeutung patagonischer Hochmoore als wichtige globale Kohlenstoffsenken mit niedrigen Methanemissionen. Sie vertieft das Verständnis für die zeitlichen und räumlichen Muster der Kohlenstoff- und Stickstoffdynamiken dieser Moore. Auch wurde gezeigt, wie wichtig das Verständnis der biogeochemischen Zusammenhänge im Torf oder der Oberflächenstruktur eines Moores für die Abschätzung der Methanfreisetzung auf unterschiedlichen räumlichen Skalen ist.Peatlands accumulate enormous amounts of carbon and are concurrently significant natural sources of methane. In contrast to peatlands on the northern hemisphere, the peatland vegetation on the southern hemisphere has been naturally dominated by cushion-forming vascular plants beside peat mosses for thousands of years. These so-called cushion bogs therefore offer the unique opportunity to investigate long-term effects of vascular plants on the storage function of bogs and on the interplay between rhizosphere and methane dynamics. This work confirms the importance of Patagonian bogs as important global carbon sinks with low methane emissions. It deepens the understanding of the temporal and spatial patterns of carbon and nitrogen dynamics of these bogs. The importance to understand the biogeochemical relationships in the peat or the surface structure of a peatland in order to estimate methane release at different spatial scales was also demonstrated

Zero to moderate methane emissions in a densely rooted, pristine Patagonian bog – biogeochemical controls as revealed from isotopic evidence

Peatlands are significant global methane (CH4) sources, but processes governing CH4 dynamics have been predominantly studied in the Northern Hemisphere. Southern hemispheric and tropical bogs can be dominated by cushion-forming vascular plants (e.g. Astelia pumila, Donatia fascicularis). These cushion bogs are found in many (mostly southern) parts of the world but could also serve as extreme examples for densely rooted northern hemispheric bogs dominated by rushes and sedges. We report highly variable summer CH4 emissions from different microforms in a Patagonian cushion bog as determined by chamber measurements. Driving biogeochemical processes were identified from pore water profiles and carbon isotopic signatures. Intensive root activity throughout a rhizosphere stretching over 2 m in depth accompanied by molecular oxygen release created aerobic microsites in water-saturated peat, leading to a thorough CH4 oxidation (< 0.003 mmol L−1 pore water CH4, enriched in δ13C-CH4 by up to 10 ‰) and negligible emissions (0.09±0.16 mmol CH4 m−2 d−1) from Astelia lawns. In sparsely or even non-rooted peat below adjacent pools pore water profile patterns similar to those obtained under Astelia lawns, which emitted very small amounts of CH4 (0.23±0.25 mmol m−2 d−1), were found. Below the A. pumila rhizosphere pore water concentrations increased sharply to 0.40±0.25 mmol CH4 L−1 and CH4 was predominantly produced by hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. A few Sphagnum lawns and – surprisingly – one lawn dominated by cushion-forming D. fascicularis were found to be local CH4 emission hotspots with up to 1.52±1.10 mmol CH4 m−2 d−1 presumably as root density and molecular oxygen release dropped below a certain threshold. The spatial distribution of root characteristics supposedly causing such a pronounced CH4 emission pattern was evaluated on a conceptual level aiming to exemplify scenarios in densely rooted bogs. We conclude that presence of cushion vegetation as a proxy for negligible CH4 emissions from cushion bogs needs to be interpreted with caution. Nevertheless, overall ecosystem CH4 emissions at our study site were probably minute compared to bog ecosystems worldwide and widely decoupled from environmental controls due to intensive root activity of A. pumila, for example