%0 Research Notes
%T The short-term effect of altered water level on carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a blanket bog
%A Laine, Anna M.
%A Byrne, Kenneth A.
%A Kiely, Gerard
%A Tuittila, Eeva-Stiina
%D 2009
%J Suo - Mires and peat
%V 60
%N 3-4
%U http://suo.fi/article/9868
%X Peatlands play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, by acting as a large, long-term C sink. The C sink is sustained by a high water level that inhibits decomposition of organic matter. The C gas dynamics are therefore sensitive to changes in water level, and in climatically different years a peatland can vary from a sink to a source of C. We measured carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes from vegetation communities ranging from hummocks to low lawns in a blanket bog. After a one-year calibration period the water level was both lowered and raised experimentally and the changes in vegetation composition and gas fluxes were monitored during a further year. In all vegetation communities the water level drawdown increased the respiration rate and decreased methane emission; rising water level decreased respiration and increased methane emissions. The effect of altered water level on photosynthesis depended on species composition. Water level drawdown decreased photosynthesis in most communities; rising water level decreased the photosynthesis of hummocks species, and increased the photosynthesis of Rhynchospora alba.