Gunawardhana Meeruppage, Treby Sarah, Silvester Ewen, Callesen Torben Oliver, Jones Oliver A H, Grover Samantha
Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia.
Department of Environment and Genetics, La Trobe University, PO Box 821, Wodonga, Victoria 3689, Australia; Research Centre for Applied Alpine Ecology (RCAAE), La Trobe University, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2025 Jan 10;959:178197. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178197. Epub 2024 Dec 23.
Peatlands are important global stores of carbon. However, peatland disturbance, including climate change, can cause stored carbon to be released, shifting peatlands from net carbon sinks to net carbon sources. Yet, there is a paucity of data on the carbon cycling of Australian peatlands from which to inform effective management of the peatland carbon store. Here, we present the first estimation of the seasonal and annual net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) of an intact Sphagnum-dominated peatland in the Australian Alps. We measured the net ecosystem exchange of CO (NEE), methane emission (CH), and aquatic fluxes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), over a two-year period. Overall, the ecosystem acted as a strong net carbon sink of -292.5 g C m yr. The annual NECB exhibited distinct intra-annual variability, shifting from a strong carbon sink in the growing period (-444.1 g C m period) to a carbon source in the non-growing period (151.6 g C m period). Estimates of non-CO fluxes were relatively small: emission of CH was 2.4 g CH-C m yr; DOC flux was 8.7 g C m yr; and evasion flux was 18.5 g C m yr; together comprising <10 % of annual NECB. The large observed net carbon uptake suggests that the carbon sequestration potential of the study site is exceptionally high, likely due to its occurrence in a temperate region with a relatively long growing period.
泥炭地是全球重要的碳储存库。然而，包括气候变化在内的泥炭地干扰会导致储存的碳被释放，使泥炭地从净碳汇转变为净碳源。然而，关于澳大利亚泥炭地碳循环的数据匮乏，无法为泥炭地碳储存的有效管理提供依据。在此，我们首次估算了澳大利亚阿尔卑斯山一个完整的以泥炭藓为主的泥炭地的季节性和年度净生态系统碳平衡（NECB）。我们在两年时间里测量了生态系统的CO净交换量（NEE）、甲烷排放量（CH）以及溶解有机碳（DOC）和溶解无机碳（DIC）的水生通量。总体而言，该生态系统是一个强大的净碳汇，净碳汇量为-292.5 g C m² yr⁻¹。年度NECB呈现出明显的年内变化，从生长季的强大碳汇（-444.1 g C m² 季）转变为非生长季的碳源（151.6 g C m² 季）。非CO通量的估算相对较小：CH排放量为2.4 g CH₄-C m² yr⁻¹；DOC通量为8.7 g C m² yr⁻¹；逸散通量为18.5 g C m² yr⁻¹；这些通量合计占年度NECB的比例不到10%。观测到的大量净碳吸收表明，研究地点的碳固存潜力极高，这可能是由于其位于温带地区且生长季相对较长。
