Authors:
Julie Loisel, Zicheng Yu, Paolo D’Odorico
Book:
Proceedings of the 14th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Stockholm
Keywords:
conceptual-and-process-based-models, fen-bog-transition, non-linear-ecosystem-shift, paleoecology, patagonia
Documentfile:
Loisel et al 2012: Peatland Dynamics in Patagonia: Abrupt Mid-Holocene Fen-to-Bog Transition and Carbon Sequestration Impl
Summary:
Theme I. Inventory, stratigraphy and conservation of mires and peatlands
SUMMARY
We use peatlands from southern Patagonia as model examples to investigate the role of regional-scale allogenic controls on the fen-bog transition, an important regime shift that had occurred throughout high-latitude regions of both hemispheres and that likely impacted the global carbon cycle through a major change in the rate of methane emissions and peat-carbon sequestration. In addition to documenting the mid-Holocene fen-bog transition in Patagonia, our goals are: (1) to identify and describe key fen and bog stability properties, and (2) to integrate these mechanisms into conceptual and process-based models. We argue that peatlands are ‘complex adaptive systems’, and that a reappraisal and better understanding of fundamental and important peatland processes such as the fen-bog transition under this view is critical to better assess the role of external forcing such as climate change on peatland structure and functioning.