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Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Hodgkins, SB; Richardson, CJ; Dommain, R; Wang, H; Glaser, PH; Verbeke, B; Winkler, BR; Cobb, AR; Rich, VI; Missilmani, M; Flanagan, N; Ho, M ...
Published in: Nature communications
September 2018

Peatlands represent large terrestrial carbon banks. Given that most peat accumulates in boreal regions, where low temperatures and water saturation preserve organic matter, the existence of peat in (sub)tropical regions remains enigmatic. Here we examined peat and plant chemistry across a latitudinal transect from the Arctic to the tropics. Near-surface low-latitude peat has lower carbohydrate and greater aromatic content than near-surface high-latitude peat, creating a reduced oxidation state and resulting recalcitrance. This recalcitrance allows peat to persist in the (sub)tropics despite warm temperatures. Because we observed similar declines in carbohydrate content with depth in high-latitude peat, our data explain recent field-scale deep peat warming experiments in which catotelm (deeper) peat remained stable despite temperature increases up to 9 °C. We suggest that high-latitude deep peat reservoirs may be stabilized in the face of climate change by their ultimately lower carbohydrate and higher aromatic composition, similar to tropical peats.

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Published In

Nature communications

DOI

EISSN

2041-1723

ISSN

2041-1723

Publication Date

September 2018

Volume

9

Issue

1

Start / End Page

3640
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Hodgkins, S. B., Richardson, C. J., Dommain, R., Wang, H., Glaser, P. H., Verbeke, B., … Chanton, J. P. (2018). Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance. Nature Communications, 9(1), 3640. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06050-2
Hodgkins, Suzanne B., Curtis J. Richardson, René Dommain, Hongjun Wang, Paul H. Glaser, Brittany Verbeke, B Rose Winkler, et al. “Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance.Nature Communications 9, no. 1 (September 2018): 3640. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06050-2.
Hodgkins SB, Richardson CJ, Dommain R, Wang H, Glaser PH, Verbeke B, et al. Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance. Nature communications. 2018 Sep;9(1):3640.
Hodgkins, Suzanne B., et al. “Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance.Nature Communications, vol. 9, no. 1, Sept. 2018, p. 3640. Epmc, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06050-2.
Hodgkins SB, Richardson CJ, Dommain R, Wang H, Glaser PH, Verbeke B, Winkler BR, Cobb AR, Rich VI, Missilmani M, Flanagan N, Ho M, Hoyt AM, Harvey CF, Vining SR, Hough MA, Moore TR, Richard PJH, De La Cruz FB, Toufaily J, Hamdan R, Cooper WT, Chanton JP. Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance. Nature communications. 2018 Sep;9(1):3640.

Published In

Nature communications

DOI

EISSN

2041-1723

ISSN

2041-1723

Publication Date

September 2018

Volume

9

Issue

1

Start / End Page

3640