The role of natural and artificial pools in northern peatland carbon cycling

自上一个冰河时代结束以来，大量大气中的二氧化碳以部分分解的植物遗骸的形式被缓慢地锁在寒冷潮湿的世界北部地区的泥炭土中。如果这个巨大的碳库被释放回大气中，它将导致二氧化碳的显著增加，并释放甲烷，导致进一步的全球变暖。目前，科学家们正试图解开控制地球表面这一大片区域的碳损益的机制。泥炭地通常有天然的水池。然而，我们对这些池在泥炭地碳循环中所起的作用知之甚少。此外，由于人类试图恢复退化的泥炭地，在泥炭地建造了许多新的池塘。这是因为许多退化的泥炭地以前都是用沟渠排干的。这些沟渠现在被小水坝堵住了，因此沿着被堵住的沟渠形成了成千上万的新水池。我们的项目旨在研究天然和人工池在泥炭地碳循环中的作用。它将测量进出水池的水和碳流量，以了解水池是否在处理碳方面发挥重要作用。此外，众所周知，许多泥炭地在它们内部含有被称为土壤管道的连接腔。这些不是人工管道，而是泥炭中自然连接的孔。一些与管道相连的泥炭地池可能因此与远处的大型碳源相连，但此前从未有人对此进行过研究。总之，本项目将研究北部泥炭地碳循环中碳池的作用。它将试图了解在池内和池周围运行的过程，以及自然管道在调解这些过程中的作用。它将重点关注两种类型的池：天然池和通过筑坝排水沟恢复泥炭地而形成的池。对于这两种池类型，我们将检查连接到管道的池和未连接到管道的池。这项工作对我们理解泥炭地在全球碳循环中的作用至关重要。如果没有这项研究，我们将无法正确预测气候变化情景下泥炭地的碳通量，因为我们将不了解是什么驱动了泥炭地池中的碳循环。这项工作迫在眉睫：如果没有它，我们将无法解释目前由从业者通过排水堵塞创造的大量池是如何影响泥炭地内部的碳循环和碳释放的。这个项目的结果也对泥炭地的未来管理和恢复至关重要，以优化它们减缓全球变暖的潜力。

Since the end of the last ice age large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been slowly locked up in peat soils in the cool, wet, northern regions of the world as partially decomposed plant remains. If this huge reservoir of carbon was to be released back in to the atmosphere it would cause a significant rise in carbon dioxide and release methane and result in further global warming. At the moment scientists are trying to unravel the mechanisms that control the losses and gains of carbon from this large area of the Earth's surface.Peatlands often have natural pools of water within them. However, we know little about what role these pools play in the peatland carbon cycle. Furthermore, many new pools are being created in peatlands by humans as they try to restore degraded peatlands. This is because many degraded peatlands have previously been drained using ditches. These ditches are now being blocked up with small dams thereby creating tens of thousands of new pools along the length of the blocked ditches.Our project seeks to examine the role of natural and artificial pools in the peatland carbon cycle. It will measure flows of water and carbon into and out of pools in order to understand whether the pools play an important role in processing the carbon.Additionally it is known that many peatlands contain connected cavities within them known as soil pipes. These are not artificial pipes, but just natural connected holes within the peat. Some peatland pools which are connected to pipes may therefore be connected to large carbon sources from some distance away, but no-one has ever studied this before. In summary, this project will investigate the role of pools in carbon cycling within northern peatlands. It will seek to understand processes operating in and around pools and the role of natural pipes in mediating these processes. It will focus on two pool types: natural pools and pools that have been created through peatland restoration by damming of drainage ditches. For both pool types we will examine those that are connected to pipes and those that are unconnected to pipes.This work is fundamental to our understanding of the role of peatlands in the global carbon cycle. Without this research we will be unable to properly predict carbon fluxes from peatlands under climate change scenarios because we will not understand what drives carbon cycling in peatland pools. The work is urgent: without it we will be unable to explain how the large number of pools currently being created by practitioners via drain blocking is affecting carbon cycling within, and carbon release from, peatlands. The results from this project are also vital to informing the future management and restoration of peatlands in order to optimise their potential to mitigate global warming.