Verity G Salmon1, Deanne J Brice1, Scott Bridgham2, Joanne Childs3, Jake Graham4, Natalie A Griffiths3, Kirsten Hofmockel5,6, Colleen M Iversen3, Terri M Jicha7, Randy K Kolka8, Joel E Kostka9, Avni Malhotra10, Richard J Norby3,11, Jana R Phillips3, Daniel Ricciuto3, Christopher W Schadt12, Stephen D Sebestyen8, Xiaoying Shi3, Anthony P Walker3, Jeffrey M Warren3, David J Weston12, Xiaojuan Yang3, Paul J Hanson3. 1. Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA. 2. Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA. 3. Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental, Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA. 4. Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA. 5. Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate Molecular, Science Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National, Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA. 6. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA. 7. US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory, Mid-Continent Ecology Division, Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Great, Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division, Duluth, MN, USA. 8. USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Grand Rapids, MN, USA. 9. School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. 10. Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. 11. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. 12. Climate Change Science Institute and Biosciences, Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
Abstract
Aims: Slow decomposition and isolation from groundwater mean that ombrotrophic peatlands store a large amount of soil carbon (C) but have low availability of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). To better understand the role these limiting nutrients play in determining the C balance of peatland ecosystems, we compile comprehensive N and P budgets for a forested bog in northern Minnesota, USA. Methods: N and P within plants, soils, and water are quantified based on field measurements. The resulting empirical dataset are then compared to modern-day, site-level simulations from the peatland land surface version of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (ELM-SPRUCE). Results: Our results reveal N is accumulating in the ecosystem at 0.2 ± 0.1 g N m-2 year-1 but annual P inputs to this ecosystem are balanced by losses. Biomass stoichiometry indicates that plant functional types differ in N versus P limitation, with trees exhibiting a stronger N limitation than ericaceous shrubs or Sphagnum moss. High biomass and productivity of Sphagnum results in the moss layer storing and cycling a large proportion of plant N and P. Comparing our empirically-derived nutrient budgets to ELM-SPRUCE shows the model captures N cycling within dominant plant functional types well. Conclusions: The nutrient budgets and stoichiometry presented serve as a baseline for quantifying the nutrient cycling response of peatland ecosystems to both observed and simulated climate change. Our analysis improves our understanding of N and P dynamics within nutrient-limited peatlands and represents a crucial step toward improving C-cycle projections into the twenty-first century.
Aims: Slow decomposition and isolation from groundwater mean that ombrotrophic peatlands store a large amount of soil carbon (C) but have low availability of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). To better understand the role these limiting nutrients play in determining the C balance of peatland ecosystems, we compile comprehensive N and P budgets for a forested bog in northern Minnesota, USA. Methods: N and P within plants, soils, and water are quantified based on field measurements. The resulting empirical dataset are then compared to modern-day, site-level simulations from the peatland land surface version of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (ELM-SPRUCE). Results: Our results reveal N is accumulating in the ecosystem at 0.2 ± 0.1 g N m-2 year-1 but annual P inputs to this ecosystem are balanced by losses. Biomass stoichiometry indicates that plant functional types differ in N versus P limitation, with trees exhibiting a stronger N limitation than ericaceous shrubs or Sphagnum moss. High biomass and productivity of Sphagnum results in the moss layer storing and cycling a large proportion of plant N and P. Comparing our empirically-derived nutrient budgets to ELM-SPRUCE shows the model captures N cycling within dominant plant functional types well. Conclusions: The nutrient budgets and stoichiometry presented serve as a baseline for quantifying the nutrient cycling response of peatland ecosystems to both observed and simulated climate change. Our analysis improves our understanding of N and P dynamics within nutrient-limited peatlands and represents a crucial step toward improving C-cycle projections into the twenty-first century.
Authors: Robert B McKane; Loretta C Johnson; Gaius R Shaver; Knute J Nadelhoffer; Edward B Rastetter; Brian Fry; Anne E Giblin; Knut Kielland; Bonnie L Kwiatkowski; James A Laundre; Georgia Murray Journal: Nature Date: 2002-01-03 Impact factor: 49.962
Authors: Xueju Lin; Malak M Tfaily; Stefan J Green; J Megan Steinweg; Patrick Chanton; Aopeau Imvittaya; Jeffrey P Chanton; William Cooper; Christopher Schadt; Joel E Kostka Journal: Appl Environ Microbiol Date: 2014-03-28 Impact factor: 4.792
Authors: Peter M Groffman; Mark A Altabet; J K Böhlke; Klaus Butterbach-Bahl; Mark B David; Mary K Firestone; Anne E Giblin; Todd M Kana; Lars Peter Nielsen; Mary A Voytek Journal: Ecol Appl Date: 2006-12 Impact factor: 4.657
Authors: Anna M Jensen; Jeffrey M Warren; Anthony W King; Daniel M Ricciuto; Paul J Hanson; Stan D Wullschleger Journal: Tree Physiol Date: 2019-04-01 Impact factor: 4.196