Peatland hydrology and carbon release: why small-scale process matters
Peatland hydrology and carbon release: why small-scale process matters
复制标题
DOI：
10.1098/rsta.2005.1671
复制
发表时间：
2005-12-15
期刊：
影响因子：
5
通讯作者：
Holden, J
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Holden, J
泥炭地覆盖了超过4亿公顷的地球表面，储存了世界土壤碳库的三分之一到一半。泥炭地长期能够吸收大气中的二氧化碳，这意味着它们在缓和全球气候方面发挥着重要作用。泥炭地还可以减弱或加剧洪水。气候或管理的变化可能会改变泥炭地的水文过程和水在泥炭表面及其下方移动的路径。正是泥炭中的水的运动推动了碳的储存和流动。这些小规模的过程可能会通过加剧陆地碳排放而对全球产生影响。本文将介绍在理解泥炭地环境过程方面的进展。最近(和未来)在高分辨率地形数据收集和水文建模方面的进展有助于深入了解泥炭地土地管理和气候变化的空间影响。尽管如此，未来的研究仍面临一些重大挑战。这些问题包括泥炭中干扰的影响可能是不可逆转的，至少在人类的时间尺度上是这样。这对泥炭地恢复战略的感知成功和理解具有重要意义。在某些情况下，泥炭地恢复可能会导致碳损失加剧。如果我们决定开始创造泥炭地，以对抗大气碳增加的威胁，这也将是重要的。
Peatlands cover over 400 million hectares of the Earth's surface and store between one-third and one-half of the world's soil carbon pool. The long-term ability of peatlands to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere means that they play a major role in moderating global climate. Peatlands can also either attenuate or accentuate flooding. Changing climate or management can alter peatland hydrological processes and pathways for water movement across and below the peat surface. It is the movement of water in peats that drives carbon storage and flux. These small-scale processes can have global impacts through exacerbated terrestrial carbon release. This paper will describe advances in understanding environmental processes operating in peatlands. Recent (and future) advances in high-resolution topographic data collection and hydrological modelling provide an insight into the spatial impacts of land management and climate change in peatlands. Nevertheless, there are still some major challenges for future research. These include the problem that impacts of disturbance in peat can be irreversible, at least on human time-scales. This has implications for the perceived success and understanding of peatland restoration strategies. In some circumstances, peatland restoration may lead to exacerbated carbon loss. This will also be important if we decide to start to create peatlands in order to counter the threat from enhanced atmospheric carbon.