Authors
Nicholas OE Ofiti, Michael WI Schmidt, Samuel Abiven, Paul J Hanson, Colleen M Iversen, Rachel M Wilson, Joel E Kostka, Guido LB Wiesenberg, Avni Malhotra
Publication date
2023/11/20
Journal
Nature Communications
Volume
14
Issue
1
Pages
7533
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK
Description
Peatlands are an important carbon (C) reservoir storing one-third of global soil organic carbon (SOC), but little is known about the fate of these C stocks under climate change. Here, we examine the impact of warming and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) on the molecular composition of SOC to infer SOC sources (microbe-, plant- and fire-derived) and stability in a boreal peatland. We show that while warming alone decreased plant- and microbe-derived SOC due to enhanced decomposition, warming combined with eCO2 increased plant-derived SOC compounds. We further observed increasing root-derived inputs (suberin) and declining leaf/needle-derived inputs (cutin) into SOC under warming and eCO2. The decline in SOC compounds with warming and gains from new root-derived C under eCO2, suggest that warming and eCO2 may shift peatland C budget towards pools with faster turnover …
Total citations
2023202414
Scholar articles