Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, PhD, from the Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, is co-author of a publication published in the Catena journal. Her analysis from three kettle peat bogs has shown that these peatlands have been among the leaders in carbon accumulation in the past. Understanding patterns of carbon sequestration over time and space is crucial for models and future predictions of carbon uptake and climate change mitigation.
The study entitled 'Kettle-Hole Peatlands as Carbon Hot Spots: Unveiling Controls of Carbon Accumulation Rates during the Last Two Millennia' collects the findings of a team of scientists from the Climate Change Ecology Laboratory, working under the leadership of Professor Mariusz Lamentowicz.
- "Our publication proves first and foremost that, so far treated somewhat neglectfully, kettle peat bogs may have enormous potential for carbon accumulation. The results show that at two of the three locations, the carbon accumulation process was very efficient. The third lost its efficiency as a result of fires." - says Dr Karpińska-Kołaczek
Why peat bogs?
Thanks to their unique conditions, peatlands are an archive of palaeoenvironmental knowledge, recording the environmental changes which occurred in their vicinity. For example, the peats preserve the effects of deforestation caused by human activity or the presence of crops or grazing animals in the past from somewhere on their periphery.
- "If we inspect a column pulled out of the peat, there is often material at a depth of 100-200 centimetres (or even more) in which, with the naked eye, we can find parts of plants and then, using a microscope, determine their species," - explains the doctor.
Thanks to the relatively fast growth of peat bogs, much of the organic matter, including bogs and other plants, ends up in the acidic and anaerobic water environment, where it is not fully decomposed and is perfectly preserved. These conditions also mean that peatlands absorb more carbon through photosynthesis (building it up in plant organisms) than they release during the decomposition of organic matter.
Source: Życie Uniwersytecie
Photo credit: A. Wykrota