| Summary: | The aim of this study is to estimate wintertime emissions of greenhouse gases CO<sub>2</sub>, N<sub>2</sub>O and CH<sub>4</sub> in two abandoned peat extraction areas (APEA), Ess-soo and Laiuse, and in two Oxalis site-type drained peatland forests (DPF) on nitrogen-rich sapric histosol, a Norway spruce and a Downy birch forest, located in eastern Estonia. According to the long-term study using a closed chamber method, the APEAs emitted less CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O, and more CH<sub>4</sub> than the DPFs. Across the study sites, CO<sub>2</sub> flux correlated positively with soil, ground and air temperatures. Continuous snow depth > 5 cm did not influence CO<sub>2</sub>, but at no snow or a thin snow layer the fluxes varied on a large scale (from −1.1 to 106 mg C m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>). In all sites, the highest N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes were observed at a water table depth of −30 to −40 cm. CH<sub>4</sub> was consumed in the DPFs and was always emitted from the APEAs, whereas the highest flux appeared at a water table >20 cm above the surface. Considering the global warming potential (GWP) of the greenhouse gas emissions from the DPFs in the wintertime, the flux of N<sub>2</sub>O was the main component of warming, showing 3–6 times higher radiative forcing values than that of CO<sub>2</sub> flux, while the role of CH<sub>4</sub> was unimportant. In the APEAs, CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> made up almost equal parts, whereas the impact of N<sub>2</sub>O on GWP was minor.
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