Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils
Abstract Background One of the scientific challenges of understanding climate change has been determining the important drivers and metrics of global carbon (C) emissions and C cycling in tropical, subtropical, boreal, subarctic, and temperate peatlands. Peatlands account for 3% of global land cover...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Carbon Balance and Management |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-021-00189-0 |
| _version_ | 1818692770910437376 |
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| author | Robert A. Mickler |
| author_facet | Robert A. Mickler |
| author_sort | Robert A. Mickler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background One of the scientific challenges of understanding climate change has been determining the important drivers and metrics of global carbon (C) emissions and C cycling in tropical, subtropical, boreal, subarctic, and temperate peatlands. Peatlands account for 3% of global land cover, yet contain a major reservoir of 550 gigatons (Gt) of soil C, and serve as C sinks for 0.37 Gt of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. In the United States, temperate peatlands are estimated to store 455 petagrams of C (PgC). There has been increasing interest in the role of wildfires in C cycling and altering peatlands from C sinks to major C sources. We estimated above- and below-ground C emissions from the Pains Bay Fire, a long-duration wildfire (112 days; 18,329 ha) that burned a coastal peatland in eastern North Carolina, USA. Results Soil C emissions were estimated from pre- and post-burn Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) soil elevation data, soils series and C content mapping, remotely sensed soil burn severity, and post-burn field surveys of soil elevation. Total above-ground C emissions from the fire were 2,89,579 t C and 214 t C ha−1 for the 10 vegetation associations within the burn area perimeter. Above-ground sources of C emissions were comprised of litter (69,656 t C), shrub (1,68,983 t C), and foliage (50,940 t C). Total mean below-ground C emissions were 5,237,521 t C, and ranged from 2,630,529 to 8,287,900 t C, depending on organic matter content of different soil horizons within each of the 7 soil series. The mean below-ground C emissions within the burn area were 1,595.6 t C ha−1 and ranged from 629.3 to 2511.3 t C ha−1. Conclusions In contrast to undisturbed temperate peatlands, human induced disturbances of the natural elevation gradient of the peatland has resulted in increased heterogeneity of floristic variation and assemblages that are a product of the spatial and temporal patterns of the water table level and the surface wetness across peatlands. Human induced changes in surface hydrology and land use influenced the fuel characteristics of natural vegetation and associated soils, thus influencing wildfire risk, behavior, and the resulting C emissions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T13:03:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c98bfc88b73e4b23a341633900b72521 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1750-0680 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T13:03:05Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Carbon Balance and Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-c98bfc88b73e4b23a341633900b725212022-12-21T21:47:19ZengBMCCarbon Balance and Management1750-06802021-09-0116111710.1186/s13021-021-00189-0Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soilsRobert A. Mickler0Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State UniversityAbstract Background One of the scientific challenges of understanding climate change has been determining the important drivers and metrics of global carbon (C) emissions and C cycling in tropical, subtropical, boreal, subarctic, and temperate peatlands. Peatlands account for 3% of global land cover, yet contain a major reservoir of 550 gigatons (Gt) of soil C, and serve as C sinks for 0.37 Gt of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. In the United States, temperate peatlands are estimated to store 455 petagrams of C (PgC). There has been increasing interest in the role of wildfires in C cycling and altering peatlands from C sinks to major C sources. We estimated above- and below-ground C emissions from the Pains Bay Fire, a long-duration wildfire (112 days; 18,329 ha) that burned a coastal peatland in eastern North Carolina, USA. Results Soil C emissions were estimated from pre- and post-burn Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) soil elevation data, soils series and C content mapping, remotely sensed soil burn severity, and post-burn field surveys of soil elevation. Total above-ground C emissions from the fire were 2,89,579 t C and 214 t C ha−1 for the 10 vegetation associations within the burn area perimeter. Above-ground sources of C emissions were comprised of litter (69,656 t C), shrub (1,68,983 t C), and foliage (50,940 t C). Total mean below-ground C emissions were 5,237,521 t C, and ranged from 2,630,529 to 8,287,900 t C, depending on organic matter content of different soil horizons within each of the 7 soil series. The mean below-ground C emissions within the burn area were 1,595.6 t C ha−1 and ranged from 629.3 to 2511.3 t C ha−1. Conclusions In contrast to undisturbed temperate peatlands, human induced disturbances of the natural elevation gradient of the peatland has resulted in increased heterogeneity of floristic variation and assemblages that are a product of the spatial and temporal patterns of the water table level and the surface wetness across peatlands. Human induced changes in surface hydrology and land use influenced the fuel characteristics of natural vegetation and associated soils, thus influencing wildfire risk, behavior, and the resulting C emissions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-021-00189-0C emissionsdNBRGround fireLIDARPeatlandTemperate |
| spellingShingle | Robert A. Mickler Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils Carbon Balance and Management C emissions dNBR Ground fire LIDAR Peatland Temperate |
| title | Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils |
| title_full | Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils |
| title_fullStr | Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils |
| title_full_unstemmed | Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils |
| title_short | Carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire: contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils |
| title_sort | carbon emissions from a temperate coastal peatland wildfire contributions from natural plant communities and organic soils |
| topic | C emissions dNBR Ground fire LIDAR Peatland Temperate |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-021-00189-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertamickler carbonemissionsfromatemperatecoastalpeatlandwildfirecontributionsfromnaturalplantcommunitiesandorganicsoils |