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Relationship Between Ecosystem Productivity and Photosynthetically Active Radiation for Northern PeatlandsWe analyzed the relationship between net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (NEE) and irradiance (as photosynthetic photon flux density or PPFD), using published and unpublished data that have been collected during midgrowing season for carbon balance studies at seven peatlands in North America and Europe, NEE measurements included both eddy-correlation tower and clear, static chamber methods, which gave very similar results. Data were analyzed by site, as aggregated data sets by peatland type (bog, poor fen, rich fen, and all fens) and as a single aggregated data set for all peatlands. In all cases, a fit with a rectangular hyperbola (NEE = alpha PPFD P(sub max)/(alpha PPFD + P(sub max) + R) better described the NEE-PPFD relationship than did a linear fit (NEE = beta PPFD + R). Poor and rich fens generally had similar NEE-PPFD relationships, while bogs had lower respiration rates (R = -2.0 micro mol m(exp -2) s(exp -1) for bogs and -2.7 micro mol m(exp -2) s(exp -1)) for fens) and lower NEE at moderate and high light levels (P(sub max)= 5.2 micro mol m(exp -2) s(exp -1) for bogs and 10.8 micro mol m(exp -2) s(exp -1) for fens). As a single class, northern peatlands had much smaller ecosystem respiration (R = -2.4 micro mol m(exp -2) s(exp -1)) and NEE rates (alpha = 0.020 and P(sub max)= 9.2 micro mol m(exp -2) s(exp -1)) than the upland ecosystems (closed canopy forest, grassland, and cropland). Despite this low productivity, northern peatland soil carbon pools are generally 5-50 times larger than upland ecosystems because of slow rates of decomposition caused by litter quality and anaerobic, cold soils.
Document ID
19990042020
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Frolking, S. E.
(New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH United States)
Bubier, J. L.
(New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH United States)
Moore, T. R.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec Canada)
Ball, T.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec Canada)
Bellisario, L. M.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec Canada)
Bhardwaj, A.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec Canada)
Carroll, P.
(New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH United States)
Crill, P. M.
(New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH United States)
Lafleur, P. M.
(Trent Univ. Peterborough, Ontario Canada)
McCaughey, J. H.
(Queens Univ. Kingston, Ontario Canada)
Roulet, N. T.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec Canada)
Suyker, A. E.
(Nebraska Univ. Lincoln, NE United States)
Verma, S. B.
(Nebraska Univ. Lincoln, NE United States)
Waddington, J. M.
(McMaster Univ. Hamilton, Ontario Canada)
Whiting, G. J.
(Christopher Newport Univ. Newport News, VA United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1998
Publication Information
Publication: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
Volume: 12
Issue: 1
ISSN: 0886-6236
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
Paper 97GB03367
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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