Article
Geography, Physical
Richard E. Fewster, Paul J. Morris, Graeme T. Swindles, Ruza F. Ivanovic, Claire C. Treat, Miriam C. Jones
Summary: Vegetation shifts in circum-Arctic permafrost peatlands have important consequences for carbon budgets and permafrost thaw. Shrub and tree growth in these peatlands remain unquantified. We investigate vegetation composition using plant macrofossil records and find increasing woody vegetation alongside declining herbaceous vegetation. Shrubification is most pronounced where permafrost coverage is discontinuous. Shrub expansion and decline have occurred across the pan-Arctic since 200 years BP, indicating complex ecological responses to climate warming and permafrost degradation.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Xiaoyu Li, Julie Talbot, James King, Meng Wang
Summary: Dust deposition from gravel roads can influence vegetation composition and surface chemistry in peatlands, depending on the amount of dust and its chemical composition, particularly in terms of calcium and phosphorus content.
Article
Forestry
Haijie Yi, Yao Wang, Yongcai Lou, Xiaojia Han
Summary: Large-scale vegetation restoration has a significant impact on catchment hydrology. This study compares the changes in streamflow characteristics between less-forested catchments undergoing vegetation restoration and forested reference catchments in the Loess Plateau. The results show that vegetation restoration reduces stormflow and increases baseflow, leading to changes in hydrological regimes. In contrast, well-preserved vegetation in forested catchments maintains stable hydrological regimes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joannie Beaulne, Michelle Garneau, Gabriel Magnan, Etienne Boucher
Summary: This study evaluates the carbon sequestration potential of pristine boreal forested peatlands over different timescales, finding that organic horizons have more carbon storage potential than tree biomass. Forested peatlands have similar recent rates of carbon accumulation to non-forested peatlands, but lower long-term rates.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Tanya J. R. Lippmann, Michiel H. in 't Zandt, Nathalie N. L. Van der Putten, Freek S. Busschers, Marc P. Hijma, Pieter van der Velden, Tim de Groot, Zicarlo van Aalderen, Ove H. Meisel, Caroline P. Slomp, Helge Niemann, Mike S. M. Jetten, Han A. J. Dolman, Cornelia U. Welte
Summary: Northern latitude peatlands act as important carbon sources and sinks, with little known about the greenhouse gas budgets of peatlands submerged beneath the North Sea during the last glacial-interglacial transition. The study found consistent stratigraphic layering and local vegetation succession, with low concentrations of ancient methane present in sediment. The presence of methanogenic microorganisms and absence of methanotrophic microorganisms suggest the potential for microbial methane production in these sediment under changing environmental conditions.
Article
Geography, Physical
Nataleigh Perez, Julie Loisel
Summary: Peat-core records have been widely used for paleoclimate reconstructions in northern high-latitude regions but are less common in the southern tropical zone. This study provides a synthesis of published peat-core reconstructions and basal ages from high-elevation sites in the Andes of South America, and presents a new multi-proxy peat-core-based paleoecological reconstruction from a peatland in Peru. The results show that peat initiation occurred throughout the Holocene, progressing from the northern Andes to central Andes, with highest initiation frequencies clustered at approximately 10,700 cal. yr BP and 8300 cal. yr BP. This research highlights the potential of peat-core records in assessing regional paleoclimate trends in the central Andes using a multi-proxy approach.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mariusz Galka, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Kazimierz Tobolski, Angela Gallego-Sala, Piotr Kolaczek, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Katarzyna Kajukalo-Drygalska, Katarzyna Marcisz
Summary: This study conducted paleoecological investigations in the peatland of the Bialowieza Forest Reserve, revealing the impact of past fire activity and recent decrease in human activity on the forest and peatland ecosystems. The findings indicate that even well-preserved peatlands might be far from their pristine state, but the studied area remains one of the best-preserved forest ecosystems in Europe.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Mingming Zhang, Zhaojun Bu, Shasha Liu, Jie Chen, Yaxin Cui
Summary: The Hani peatland in Northeast Asia underwent wet, moderate moisture, and dry conditions over the past 7766 years, with corresponding changes in vegetation and hydrology. These changes were primarily influenced by solar irradiation and ENSO activity.
Article
Ecology
Maija Lampela, Kari Minkkinen, Petra Strakova, Rabbil Bhuiyan, Wei He, Paivi Makiranta, Paavo Ojanen, Timo Penttila, Raija Laiho
Summary: Peatlands are important carbon hotspots, but the distribution and composition of fine-root biomass and production in forested peatlands are poorly known. This study examined the effects of water-table drawdown on these characteristics in different types of forested peatlands and found that wetness and nutrient regime regulate fine-root biomass and production.
FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Water Resources
Nicole Balliston, Jonathan S. Price
Summary: Patterned bog and fen peatlands in the Hudson Bay Lowlands act as important water storage and conveyance features. This study characterized the thresholds of hydrological connectivity between wetlands and peatlands, and found that connectivity is mainly influenced by precipitation and temperature.
HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Naoki Hayashi, Jun Inoue
Summary: This study used phytolith records in paleosols to reconstruct the vegetation transition from the terminal Pleistocene to the early Holocene in the southernmost parts of mainland Japan, with a focus on herbaceous plants. The study found that Andropogoneae species and other grassland plants gradually replaced the existing forest vegetation during the transition from the terminal Pleistocene to the early Holocene, and evergreen broad-leaved forests had developed at least by 7,300 cal BP.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jack Longman, Daniel Veres, Aritina Haliuc, Walter Finsinger, Vasile Ersek, Daniela Pascal, Tiberiu Sava, Robert Begy
Summary: This study examines the carbon accumulation rates of mountainous peatlands in central-eastern Europe, revealing that these peatlands can act as efficient regional carbon sinks influenced by hydroclimatic controls. The research also suggests that under future climate conditions, warmer temperatures may lead to increased peat growth, contingent upon the scale of human impact on the hydrological budget of these peatlands.
CLIMATE OF THE PAST
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Petr Pokorny, Premysl Bobek, Petr Sida, Jan Novak, Michaela Ptakova, Matthew Walls
Summary: This study examines the forest ecosystem development in a rocky upland area of Central Europe and finds that it had a dynamic development throughout the Holocene, contrary to the assumption of no human disturbance. High-resolution pollen analysis and archaeological evidence indicate both natural and human-induced fire disturbances. The study suggests that applying this approach to other remote forested areas of Central Europe can transform our understanding of prehistoric subsistence and land use strategies, as well as impact nature conservation strategies in the region.
Article
Geography, Physical
Leonie Perrier, Michelle Garneau, Steve Pratte, Nicole K. Sanderson
Summary: This study presents reconstructions of the ecohydrological conditions and carbon accumulation of two maritime peatlands on Anticosti Island, Canada. The results show that the development of these peatlands is influenced by sea-surface conditions in interaction with atmospheric circulation. The peat accumulation rates are lower than the global average for northern peatlands, likely due to high wind exposure.
Article
Forestry
Karen A. Harper, Logan Gray, Natasha Daze Querry
Summary: This study explored forest structure patterns at the edges between forested wetlands and upland forests in Atlantic Canada, finding lower tree structural diversity at the edges. Structural diversity was not a reliable measure for distinguishing between forested wetlands and upland forests.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Guillaume Primeau, Michelle Garneau
Summary: The study found differences in peatland development and carbon accumulation rates between sites within the watershed at different latitudes, with wetland transitions occurring earlier in the southern region than the northern region. In the northernmost site, the wetland transition did not occur until the 20th century due to less favorable climatic conditions.
Article
Geography, Physical
Mylene Robitaille, Michelle Garneau, Simon van Bellen, Nicole K. Sanderson
Summary: Peatlands in the north-central region of Quebec, Canada, display characteristics of patterned peatlands, which recorded hydrological disequilibrium during the Neoglacial cooling period. Data shows that these peatlands initially formed around 6500 years ago, with a general increase in surface wetness during the Neoglacial cooling until the end of the Little Ice Age. A synchronous ecosystem state shift from oligotrophic to more ombrotrophic conditions was registered at the beginning of the 20th century in both study sites.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joannie Beaulne, Michelle Garneau, Gabriel Magnan, Etienne Boucher
Summary: This study evaluates the carbon sequestration potential of pristine boreal forested peatlands over different timescales, finding that organic horizons have more carbon storage potential than tree biomass. Forested peatlands have similar recent rates of carbon accumulation to non-forested peatlands, but lower long-term rates.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Ecology
Lorna Harris, Karen Richardson, Kelly A. Bona, Scott J. Davidson, Sarah A. Finkelstein, Michelle Garneau, Jim McLaughlin, Felix Nwaishi, David Olefeldt, Maara Packalen, Nigel T. Roulet, F. Meg Southee, Maria Strack, Kara L. Webster, Sophie L. Wilkinson, Justina C. Ray
Summary: Northern peatlands have cooled the global climate by accumulating large quantities of soil carbon over thousands of years, making them critical for mitigating climate warming. Despite their importance, these peatlands in Canada and globally are facing threats from land-use change and disturbances, highlighting the need for targeted policies to strengthen their management. Insufficient policy safeguards and limited quantification and reporting of peatland greenhouse-gas emissions and removals increase the vulnerability of these important ecosystems.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Gabriel Magnan, Nicole K. Sanderson, Sanna Piilo, Steve Pratte, Minna Valiranta, Simon van Bellen, Hui Zhang, Michelle Garneau
Summary: Recent ecosystem shifts in northern peatlands, including transitions from oligotrophic fens to bogs and expansion of Sphagnum, are widespread and coincided with climate warming. Rapid transitions towards drier bog communities and Sphagnum expansion, especially in the northern subarctic sites of northeastern Canada, are concurrent with summer warming. These results suggest a northward migration of Sphagnum-dominated peatlands in North America in response to climate change, with differences in timing of ecosystem shifts reflecting internal peatland dynamics and varying vegetation responses.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
J. Goslin, P. Bernatchez, R. L. Barnett, C. Beland, B. Ghaleb, D. Didier, M. Garneau
Summary: This study aims to improve the understanding of the resilience capacity of salt-marsh environments to sea-level rise and wave events by reconstructing the accretion histories of two marshes in Eastern Canada. The analysis reveals contrasting sedimentation histories between the two sites and highlights the importance of coarse sedimentation for maintaining accretion rates and building resilience in saltmarshes.
Article
Soil Science
Denis Angers, Rock Ouimet, Pascale Roy-Leveillee, Michelle Garneau
Article
Geography, Physical
Leonie Perrier, Michelle Garneau, Steve Pratte, Nicole K. Sanderson
Summary: This study presents reconstructions of the ecohydrological conditions and carbon accumulation of two maritime peatlands on Anticosti Island, Canada. The results show that the development of these peatlands is influenced by sea-surface conditions in interaction with atmospheric circulation. The peat accumulation rates are lower than the global average for northern peatlands, likely due to high wind exposure.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Pierre Taillardat, Pascal Bodmer, Charles P. Deblois, Alex Poncot, Antonin Prijac, Khawla Riahi, Laure Gandois, Paul A. del Giorgio, Marc Andre Bourgault, Alain Tremblay, Michelle Garneau
Summary: This study investigates the carbon greenhouse gas emissions and losses in a peatland headwater stream and finds that porewater seepage is the primary source of CO2 and methane in the stream. Precipitation events and topography play important roles in controlling the magnitude of carbon greenhouse gas fluxes.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
C. Lambert, M. Larocque, S. Gagne, M. Garneau
Summary: This research aims to quantify the hydrological connectivity between a surficial aquifer and a peatland in north-central Quebec and identify the controlling factors. The study finds contrasting water budgets and different controlling factors for two peatlands, highlighting the importance of considering hydrological conditions beyond the peatland limits.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hui Zhang, Minna Valiranta, Graeme T. Swindles, Marco A. Aquino-Lopez, Donal Mullan, Ning Tan, Matthew Amesbury, Kirill Babeshko, Kunshan Bao, Anatoly Bobrov, Viktor Chernyshov, Marissa A. Davies, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Angelica Feurdean, Sarah A. Finkelstein, Michelle Garneau, Zhengtang Guo, Miriam C. Jones, Martin Kay, Eric S. Klein, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Gabriel Magnan, Katarzyna Marcisz, Natalia Mazei, Yuri Mazei, Richard Payne, Nicolas Pelletier, Sanna R. Piilo, Steve Pratte, Thomas Roland, Damir Saldaev, William Shotyk, Thomas G. Sim, Thomas J. Sloan, Michal Slowinski, Julie Talbot, Liam Taylor, Andrey N. Tsyganov, Sebastian Wetterich, Wei Xing, Yan Zhao
Summary: A recent synthesis study has found that high-latitude peatlands have exhibited complex and highly uncertain ecohydrological dynamics over the past centuries, with 54% of the peatlands drying and 32% wetting. This highlights the importance of understanding the responses of high-latitude peatlands to a warming climate.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sanna R. Piilo, Minna M. Valiranta, Matt J. Amesbury, Marco A. Aquino-Lopez, Dan J. Charman, Angela Gallego-Sala, Michelle Garneau, Natalia Koroleva, Mai Karppa, Anna M. Laine, A. Britta K. Sannel, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Hui Zhang
Summary: Climate warming leads to permafrost thaw in northern peatlands, increasing surface wetness and methane emissions. Hydrology plays a key role in peatland vegetation composition, which affects carbon dynamics. Peatland carbon budgets may become uncertain due to the accelerated plant production and peat decomposition caused by warming.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Antonin Prijac, Laure Gandois, Laurent Jeanneau, Pierre Taillardat, Michelle Garneau
Summary: Pools are common features of peatlands and play an important role in the carbon cycle. This study found that the majority of carbon emitted from pools in a boreal peatland originates from plant-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM). The composition and dynamics of DOM in pools and peat porewater differ, indicating that pools are a key component of peatland ecosystems.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Sandy P. Harrison, Roberto Villegas-Diaz, Esmeralda Cruz-Silva, Daniel Gallagher, David Kesner, Paul Lincoln, Yicheng Shen, Luke Sweeney, Daniele Colombaroli, Adam Ali, Cheima Barhoumi, Yves Bergeron, Tatiana Blyakharchuk, Premysl Bobek, Richard Bradshaw, Jennifer L. Clear, Sambor Czerwinski, Anne-Laure Daniau, John Dodson, Kevin J. Edwards, Mary E. Edwards, Angelica Feurdean, David Foster, Konrad Gajewski, Mariusz Galka, Michelle Garneau, Thomas Giesecke, Graciela Gil Romera, Martin P. Girardin, Dana Hoefer, Kangyou Huang, Jun Inoue, Eva Jamrichova, Nauris Jasiunas, Wenying Jiang, Gonzalo Jimenez-Moreno, Monika Karpinska-Kolaczek, Piotr Kolaczek, Niina Kuosmanen, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Martin Lavoie, Fang Li, Jianyong Li, Olga Lisitsyna, Jose Antonio Lopez-Saez, Reyes Luelmo-Lautenschlaeger, Gabriel Magnan, Eniko Katalin Magyari, Alekss Maksims, Katarzyna Marcisz, Elena Marinova, Jenn Marlon, Scott Mensing, Joanna Miroslaw-Grabowska, Wyatt Oswald, Sebastian Perez-Diaz, Ramon Perez-Obiol, Sanna Piilo, Anneli Poska, Xiaoguang Qin, Cecile C. Remy, Pierre J. H. Richard, Sakari Salonen, Naoko Sasaki, Hieke Schneider, William Shotyk, Migle Stancikaite, Dace Steinberga, Normunds Stivrins, Hikaru Takahara, Zhihai Tan, Liva Trasune, Charles E. Umbanhowar, Minna Valiranta, Juri Vassiljev, Xiayun Xiao, Qinghai Xu, Xin Xu, Edyta Zawisza, Yan Zhao, Zheng Zhou, Jordan Paillard
Summary: This article presents an expanded charcoal records database with new age models based on recalibration of radiocarbon ages. The database provides a wider geographical coverage and more extensive metadata for studying fire regimes.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)