The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA
Swamps are a highly significant wetland type in North America both in terms of areal extent and their role in terrestrial carbon cycling. These wetlands, characterized by woody vegetation cover, encompass a diverse suite of ecosystems, including broad-leaved, needle-leaved, mixedwood or shrub/thicke...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac63d5 |
| _version_ | 1797746947081109504 |
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| author | Scott J Davidson Emily Dazé Eunji Byun Dean Hiler Markus Kangur Julie Talbot Sarah A Finkelstein Maria Strack |
| author_facet | Scott J Davidson Emily Dazé Eunji Byun Dean Hiler Markus Kangur Julie Talbot Sarah A Finkelstein Maria Strack |
| author_sort | Scott J Davidson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Swamps are a highly significant wetland type in North America both in terms of areal extent and their role in terrestrial carbon cycling. These wetlands, characterized by woody vegetation cover, encompass a diverse suite of ecosystems, including broad-leaved, needle-leaved, mixedwood or shrub/thicket swamps. Uncertainties in the role of swamps in carbon uptake and release continue to be substantial due to insufficient data on variabilities in carbon densities across diverse swamp types and relatively few flux measurements from swamp sites. Robust measurements of rates of vertical accretion of swamp soils and the associated long-term rates of carbon accumulation, alongside measurements of carbon losses from swamps, are needed for emerging frameworks for carbon accounting, and for assessments of the impacts of climate warming and land use change on this important wetland type. Based on data compilation, we present here a comparative analysis from a series of North American swamp sites on carbon dioxide, methane and dissolved organic carbon fluxes, aboveground biomass, net primary productivity (NPP), and soil carbon properties including bulk densities, organic carbon contents, peat depths, rates of vertical accretion, and rates of long-term carbon accumulation. We compare these properties for four major swamp types: needle-leaved, broad-leaved, mixedwood and shrub/thicket swamps. We show differences in carbon fluxes, biomass and NPP across the four types, with broad-leaved swamps having the largest CH _4 flux, highest soil bulk densities, thinnest peat depths and lowest soil organic matter contents, whereas needle-leaved swamps have the smallest CH _4 flux, highest aboveground biomass and highest NPP. We show high soil carbon stocks (kg C m ^−2 ) in all types of swamps, even those where organic deposits were too shallow to meet the definition of peat. However, we note there is a significant lack of studies focused on swamp carbon dynamics despite their abundance across Canada and the United States. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:44:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-78e8a608ddcf4f09b1e1727da9dd5b37 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:44:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-78e8a608ddcf4f09b1e1727da9dd5b372023-08-09T15:32:05ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117505300310.1088/1748-9326/ac63d5The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USAScott J Davidson0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8327-2121Emily Dazé1Eunji Byun2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7493-252XDean Hiler3Markus Kangur4Julie Talbot5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1417-2327Sarah A Finkelstein6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8239-399XMaria Strack7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8996-7271School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth , Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, United Kingdom; Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo , 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, CanadaDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto , 22 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3B1, CanadaScience and Research Branch, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry , 1235 Queen Street East, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario P6A 2E5, CanadaDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto , 22 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3B1, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo , 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, CanadaDépartement de Géographie, Université de Montréal, Complexe des sciences , 1375 Avenue Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, Québec H2V 0B3, CanadaDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto , 22 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3B1, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo , 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, CanadaSwamps are a highly significant wetland type in North America both in terms of areal extent and their role in terrestrial carbon cycling. These wetlands, characterized by woody vegetation cover, encompass a diverse suite of ecosystems, including broad-leaved, needle-leaved, mixedwood or shrub/thicket swamps. Uncertainties in the role of swamps in carbon uptake and release continue to be substantial due to insufficient data on variabilities in carbon densities across diverse swamp types and relatively few flux measurements from swamp sites. Robust measurements of rates of vertical accretion of swamp soils and the associated long-term rates of carbon accumulation, alongside measurements of carbon losses from swamps, are needed for emerging frameworks for carbon accounting, and for assessments of the impacts of climate warming and land use change on this important wetland type. Based on data compilation, we present here a comparative analysis from a series of North American swamp sites on carbon dioxide, methane and dissolved organic carbon fluxes, aboveground biomass, net primary productivity (NPP), and soil carbon properties including bulk densities, organic carbon contents, peat depths, rates of vertical accretion, and rates of long-term carbon accumulation. We compare these properties for four major swamp types: needle-leaved, broad-leaved, mixedwood and shrub/thicket swamps. We show differences in carbon fluxes, biomass and NPP across the four types, with broad-leaved swamps having the largest CH _4 flux, highest soil bulk densities, thinnest peat depths and lowest soil organic matter contents, whereas needle-leaved swamps have the smallest CH _4 flux, highest aboveground biomass and highest NPP. We show high soil carbon stocks (kg C m ^−2 ) in all types of swamps, even those where organic deposits were too shallow to meet the definition of peat. However, we note there is a significant lack of studies focused on swamp carbon dynamics despite their abundance across Canada and the United States.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac63d5swampforested wetlandcarbon fluxorganic mattercarbon stocks |
| spellingShingle | Scott J Davidson Emily Dazé Eunji Byun Dean Hiler Markus Kangur Julie Talbot Sarah A Finkelstein Maria Strack The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA Environmental Research Letters swamp forested wetland carbon flux organic matter carbon stocks |
| title | The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA |
| title_full | The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA |
| title_fullStr | The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA |
| title_short | The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA |
| title_sort | unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in canada and the usa |
| topic | swamp forested wetland carbon flux organic matter carbon stocks |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac63d5 |
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