Authors:
Markku Mäkilä, Matti Saarnisto and Oleg Kuznetsov
Book:
Proceedings of the 14th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Stockholm
Keywords:
carbon-accumulation, climate, finland, holocene, peatlands, russian-karelia
Documentfile:
Makila et al 2012: Carbon Accumulation Shows the Interplay Between the Natural Succession of Mires and Climate Change
Summary:
Theme I. Inventory, stratigraphy and conservation of mires and peatlands
SUMMARY
Holocene carbon accumulation was examined from 41 peat profiles throughout Finland and Russian Karelia, and climate variability was interpreted using records of carbon accumulation rates from three raised bogs in southern Finland and one near the White Sea in Russian Karelia. Natural succession, interacting with local factors and climate, leads to differences in vegetation species composition and thus in the productivity of the resulting vegetation types. In sedge-dominated northern aapa mires, the natural development of mires and changes in the vegetation conditions have contributed more to the decreasing trend in carbon accumulation than climatic factors. The stratigraphy of raised bogs suggests that carbon exchange and accumulation have always been sensitive to the climatic fluctuations that have characterized the entire Holocene. A comparison was also made with a raised bog in the coastal area of the White Sea in Russian Karelia, which revealed a similar trend in carbon accumulation to that in the Finnish data, thus suggesting that climate fluctuations are the driving force and overshadow local factors.