Are new carbon sinks appearing in the Arctic?

Date:
May 9, 2022
Source:
University of Helsinki
Summary:
Global warming can result in the spread of peatland vegetation in
the Arctic. An international research group has discovered signs of
'proto- peat', which may be the beginning of new peatlands.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Global warming can result in the spread of peatland vegetation in
the Arctic.

An international research group has discovered signs of 'proto-peat',
which may be the beginning of new peatlands.


==========================================================================
In 2018, an international research group bored for soil samples in three
sites around the Isfjorden fjord in Svalbard, which is part of Norway. The
same phenomenon was seen each boring site: mineral soil covered by a
thin layer of organic matter. In other words, this layer contains a lot
of carbon extracted from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

The research group headed by researcher Minna Va"liranta from the
University of Helsinki has given the name 'proto-peat' to such organic
soil accumulations, which are composed mostly of moss formed in
increasingly warm arctic climate conditions.

"It's not yet peat in the actual sense of the word, but you could say
it's the starting point for the formation of peat," says Va"liranta,
who works at the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences. The
research group also includes Teemu Juselius and Sanna Piilo, doctoral researchers under Va"liranta's supervision.

Such proto-peat deposits elicit interest also internationally. Va"liranta
is involved in a larger project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), a British institution corresponding to the Academy of
Finland. This project investigates precisely the same phenomenon, that
is, whether global warming has already led to the spread of peatland
vegetation into the Arctic.

This spread of vegetation is part of a more extensive phenomenon known as 'arctic greening', which commonly refers to increasing shrub growth in
the Arctic, as vascular plants spread to regions previously barren.

"If this process that generates proto-peat occurs extensively, an
unexpected carbon reservoir, or a plant community that mitigates climate change, may be in the process of establishing itself in the north. This reservoir has not been included in the modelling of ecosystems and the atmosphere, as it has traditionally been thought that no new peatlands
are formed," Va"liranta notes.

Climate-ecosystem models are continually evolving, and only recently
have attempts been made to include the impact of peatlands in such models.

"You can say that the discovery of new carbon sinks brings into play a
new component that must be considered in models to better predict the functioning of ecosystems in a warming climate," Va"liranta says.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Helsinki. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. T. Juselius, V. Ravolainen, H. Zhang, S. Piilo, M. Mu"ller,
A. Gallego-
Sala, M. Va"liranta. Newly initiated carbon stock, organic
soil accumulation patterns and main driving factors in the High
Arctic Svalbard, Norway. Scientific Reports, 2022; 12 (1) DOI:
10.1038/s41598- 022-08652-9 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220509162819.htm

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