Warming response of peatland CO2 sink is sensitive to seasonality in warming trends

M. Helbig; T. Živković; P. Alekseychik; M. Aurela; T. S. El-Madany; E. S. Euskirchen; L. B. Flanagan; T. J. Griffis; P. J. Hanson; J. Hattakka; C. Helfter; T. Hirano; E. R. Humphreys; G. Kiely; R. K. Kolka; T. Laurila; P. G. Leahy; A. Lohila; I. Mammarella; M. B. Nilsson; A. Panov; F. J.W. Parmentier; M. Peichl; J. Rinne; D. T. Roman; O. Sonnentag; E. S. Tuittila; M. Ueyama; T. Vesala; P. Vestin; S. Weldon; P. Weslien; S. Zaehle

doi:10.1038/s41558-022-01428-z

Warming response of peatland CO₂ sink is sensitive to seasonality in warming trends

M. Helbig, T. Živković, P. Alekseychik, M. Aurela, T. S. El-Madany, E. S. Euskirchen, L. B. Flanagan, T. J. Griffis, P. J. Hanson, J. Hattakka, C. Helfter, T. Hirano, E. R. Humphreys, G. Kiely, R. K. Kolka, T. Laurila, P. G. Leahy, A. Lohila, I. Mammarella, M. B. NilssonA. Panov, F. J.W. Parmentier, M. Peichl, J. Rinne, D. T. Roman, O. Sonnentag, E. S. Tuittila, M. Ueyama, T. Vesala, P. Vestin, S. Weldon, P. Weslien, S. Zaehle

Environmental Sciences Division

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Peatlands have acted as net CO₂ sinks over millennia, exerting a global climate cooling effect. Rapid warming at northern latitudes, where peatlands are abundant, can disturb their CO₂ sink function. Here we show that sensitivity of peatland net CO₂ exchange to warming changes in sign and magnitude across seasons, resulting in complex net CO₂ sink responses. We use multiannual net CO₂ exchange observations from 20 northern peatlands to show that warmer early summers are linked to increased net CO₂ uptake, while warmer late summers lead to decreased net CO₂ uptake. Thus, net CO₂ sinks of peatlands in regions experiencing early summer warming, such as central Siberia, are more likely to persist under warmer climate conditions than are those in other regions. Our results will be useful to improve the design of future warming experiments and to better interpret large-scale trends in peatland net CO₂ uptake over the coming few decades.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	743-749
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Climate Change
Volume	12
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01428-z
State	Published - Aug 2022

Funding

M.H., L.B.F. and O.S. acknowledge support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grants programme. P.J.H.’s contributions were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. A.P. was funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Krasnoyarsk Territory, and Krasnoyarsk Regional Fund of Science, project no. 20-45-242908, and the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 21-17-00163. O.S. acknowledges funding by the Canada Research Chairs and the Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund. M.U. was funded by Arctic Challenge for Sustainability II grant JPMXD1420318865 and KAKENHI (grant no. 19H05668). P.G.L.’s and G.K.’s contributions were supported by the Irish Government’s ERTDI Programme, grant no. 2001‐CC/CD‐(5/7) and the Irish Environmental Protection Agency CELTICFLUX project, grant no. 2001-CC-C2-M1. S.W. and F.J.W.P. were funded by Bioforsk, NILU—Norwegian Institute for Air Research and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, with funding from the Research Council of Norway (project NFR208424, GHG-NOR) and the Stiftelsen Fondet for Jord-og Myrundersøkelser. F.J.W.P. received additional support from the Research Council of Norway (grant no. 274711) and the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2017-05268). P.A. acknowledges the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme for financial support of ‘Forest–Human–Machine Interplay—Building Resilience, Redefining Value Networks and Enabling Meaningful Experiences (UNITE)’ flagship (decision no. 337655) and the funding from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development FORMAS (grant no. 2018-01820). E.-S.T. acknowledges Academy of Finland funding (grant codes 330840 and 337550). We acknowledge support from the Ministry of Transport and Communication, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Academy of Finland through ICOS Finland. Funding for E.S.E. was provided by the US Geological Survey, Research Work Order 224 to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF DEB-1026415, DEB-1636476) and the NSF Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology Program (NSF LTREB 2011276). C.H. acknowledges support from the Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability. M.B.N., M.P., P.V., P.W. and J.R. acknowledge the support by the Swedish Research Council of the national research infrastructures ICOS Sweden and SITES (Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Service). P.V. received additional support from the Swedish government-funded Strategic Research Area Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate, BECC. S.Z. and T.S.E.-M. acknowledge support by the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Sciences, e.V., through the long-term project ZOTTO (EBIO 8015). We are grateful to the Liidlii Kue First Nation and Jean-Marie River First Nation for supporting observations at the Scotty Creek Research Station, which were part of the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). M.H., L.B.F. and O.S. acknowledge support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grants programme. P.J.H.’s contributions were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. A.P. was funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Krasnoyarsk Territory, and Krasnoyarsk Regional Fund of Science, project no. 20-45-242908, and the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 21-17-00163. O.S. acknowledges funding by the Canada Research Chairs and the Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund. M.U. was funded by Arctic Challenge for Sustainability II grant JPMXD1420318865 and KAKENHI (grant no. 19H05668). P.G.L.’s and G.K.’s contributions were supported by the Irish Government’s ERTDI Programme, grant no. 2001‐CC/CD‐(5/7) and the Irish Environmental Protection Agency CELTICFLUX project, grant no. 2001-CC-C2-M1. S.W. and F.J.W.P. were funded by Bioforsk, NILU—Norwegian Institute for Air Research and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, with funding from the Research Council of Norway (project NFR208424, GHG-NOR) and the Stiftelsen Fondet for Jord-og Myrundersøkelser. F.J.W.P. received additional support from the Research Council of Norway (grant no. 274711) and the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2017-05268). P.A. acknowledges the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme for financial support of ‘Forest–Human–Machine Interplay—Building Resilience, Redefining Value Networks and Enabling Meaningful Experiences (UNITE)’ flagship (decision no. 337655) and the funding from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development FORMAS (grant no. 2018-01820). E.-S.T. acknowledges Academy of Finland funding (grant codes 330840 and 337550). We acknowledge support from the Ministry of Transport and Communication, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Academy of Finland through ICOS Finland. Funding for E.S.E. was provided by the US Geological Survey, Research Work Order 224 to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF DEB-1026415, DEB-1636476) and the NSF Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology Program (NSF LTREB 2011276). C.H. acknowledges support from the Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability. M.B.N., M.P., P.V., P.W. and J.R. acknowledge the support by the Swedish Research Council of the national research infrastructures ICOS Sweden and SITES (Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Service). P.V. received additional support from the Swedish government-funded Strategic Research Area Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate, BECC. S.Z. and T.S.E.-M. acknowledge support by the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Sciences, e.V., through the long-term project ZOTTO (EBIO 8015). We are grateful to the Liidlii Kue First Nation and Jean-Marie River First Nation for supporting observations at the Scotty Creek Research Station, which were part of the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE).

Funders	Funder number
BECC
Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program
Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund	19H05668, JPMXD1420318865, 2001‐CC/CD‐(5/7
Krasnoyarsk Regional Fund of Science	20-45-242908
Krasnoyarsk Territory
Liidlii Kue First Nation and Jean-Marie River First Nation
NILU
Norwegian Institute for Air Research
Stiftelsen Fondet for Jord-og Myrundersøkelser	274711
Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development FORMAS	2018-01820, 337550, 330840
Swedish Research Council of the national research infrastructures ICOS
Swedish government-funded Strategic Research Area Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate
National Science Foundation	DEB-1026415, LTREB 2011276, DEB-1636476
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC05-00OR22725
U.S. Geological Survey
Office of Science
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Natural Environment Research Council	NE/R016429/1
Environmental Protection Agency	2001-CC-C2-M1
Canada Research Chairs
Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Academy of Finland	337655
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft	EBIO 8015
Vetenskapsrådet	2017-05268
Norges Forskningsråd	NFR208424
Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan
Bioforsk
Russian Science Foundation	21-17-00163
Ministry of Transportation and Communications

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1038/s41558-022-01428-z

Cite this

Helbig, M., Živković, T., Alekseychik, P., Aurela, M., El-Madany, T. S., Euskirchen, E. S., Flanagan, L. B., Griffis, T. J., Hanson, P. J., Hattakka, J., Helfter, C., Hirano, T., Humphreys, E. R., Kiely, G., Kolka, R. K., Laurila, T., Leahy, P. G., Lohila, A., Mammarella, I., ... Zaehle, S. (2022). Warming response of peatland CO₂ sink is sensitive to seasonality in warming trends. Nature Climate Change, 12(8), 743-749. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01428-z

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title = "Warming response of peatland CO2 sink is sensitive to seasonality in warming trends",

abstract = "Peatlands have acted as net CO2 sinks over millennia, exerting a global climate cooling effect. Rapid warming at northern latitudes, where peatlands are abundant, can disturb their CO2 sink function. Here we show that sensitivity of peatland net CO2 exchange to warming changes in sign and magnitude across seasons, resulting in complex net CO2 sink responses. We use multiannual net CO2 exchange observations from 20 northern peatlands to show that warmer early summers are linked to increased net CO2 uptake, while warmer late summers lead to decreased net CO2 uptake. Thus, net CO2 sinks of peatlands in regions experiencing early summer warming, such as central Siberia, are more likely to persist under warmer climate conditions than are those in other regions. Our results will be useful to improve the design of future warming experiments and to better interpret large-scale trends in peatland net CO2 uptake over the coming few decades.",

author = "M. Helbig and T. {\v Z}ivkovi{\'c} and P. Alekseychik and M. Aurela and El-Madany, {T. S.} and Euskirchen, {E. S.} and Flanagan, {L. B.} and Griffis, {T. J.} and Hanson, {P. J.} and J. Hattakka and C. Helfter and T. Hirano and Humphreys, {E. R.} and G. Kiely and Kolka, {R. K.} and T. Laurila and Leahy, {P. G.} and A. Lohila and I. Mammarella and Nilsson, {M. B.} and A. Panov and Parmentier, {F. J.W.} and M. Peichl and J. Rinne and Roman, {D. T.} and O. Sonnentag and Tuittila, {E. S.} and M. Ueyama and T. Vesala and P. Vestin and S. Weldon and P. Weslien and S. Zaehle",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

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doi = "10.1038/s41558-022-01428-z",

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Helbig, M, Živković, T, Alekseychik, P, Aurela, M, El-Madany, TS, Euskirchen, ES, Flanagan, LB, Griffis, TJ, Hanson, PJ, Hattakka, J, Helfter, C, Hirano, T, Humphreys, ER, Kiely, G, Kolka, RK, Laurila, T, Leahy, PG, Lohila, A, Mammarella, I, Nilsson, MB, Panov, A, Parmentier, FJW, Peichl, M, Rinne, J, Roman, DT, Sonnentag, O, Tuittila, ES, Ueyama, M, Vesala, T, Vestin, P, Weldon, S, Weslien, P & Zaehle, S 2022, 'Warming response of peatland CO₂ sink is sensitive to seasonality in warming trends', Nature Climate Change, vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 743-749. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01428-z

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AU - Živković, T.

AU - Alekseychik, P.

AU - Aurela, M.

AU - El-Madany, T. S.

AU - Euskirchen, E. S.

AU - Flanagan, L. B.

AU - Griffis, T. J.

AU - Hanson, P. J.

AU - Hattakka, J.

AU - Helfter, C.

AU - Hirano, T.

AU - Humphreys, E. R.

AU - Kiely, G.

AU - Kolka, R. K.

AU - Laurila, T.

AU - Leahy, P. G.

AU - Lohila, A.

AU - Mammarella, I.

AU - Nilsson, M. B.

AU - Panov, A.

AU - Parmentier, F. J.W.

AU - Peichl, M.

AU - Rinne, J.

AU - Roman, D. T.

AU - Sonnentag, O.

AU - Tuittila, E. S.

AU - Ueyama, M.

AU - Vesala, T.

AU - Vestin, P.

AU - Weldon, S.

AU - Weslien, P.

AU - Zaehle, S.

PY - 2022/8

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N2 - Peatlands have acted as net CO2 sinks over millennia, exerting a global climate cooling effect. Rapid warming at northern latitudes, where peatlands are abundant, can disturb their CO2 sink function. Here we show that sensitivity of peatland net CO2 exchange to warming changes in sign and magnitude across seasons, resulting in complex net CO2 sink responses. We use multiannual net CO2 exchange observations from 20 northern peatlands to show that warmer early summers are linked to increased net CO2 uptake, while warmer late summers lead to decreased net CO2 uptake. Thus, net CO2 sinks of peatlands in regions experiencing early summer warming, such as central Siberia, are more likely to persist under warmer climate conditions than are those in other regions. Our results will be useful to improve the design of future warming experiments and to better interpret large-scale trends in peatland net CO2 uptake over the coming few decades.

AB - Peatlands have acted as net CO2 sinks over millennia, exerting a global climate cooling effect. Rapid warming at northern latitudes, where peatlands are abundant, can disturb their CO2 sink function. Here we show that sensitivity of peatland net CO2 exchange to warming changes in sign and magnitude across seasons, resulting in complex net CO2 sink responses. We use multiannual net CO2 exchange observations from 20 northern peatlands to show that warmer early summers are linked to increased net CO2 uptake, while warmer late summers lead to decreased net CO2 uptake. Thus, net CO2 sinks of peatlands in regions experiencing early summer warming, such as central Siberia, are more likely to persist under warmer climate conditions than are those in other regions. Our results will be useful to improve the design of future warming experiments and to better interpret large-scale trends in peatland net CO2 uptake over the coming few decades.

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