Emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O from Southern European peatlands

Abstract

Peatlands play an important role in emissions of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O, which are produced during mineralization of the peat organic matter. To examine the influence of soil type (fen, bog soil) and environmental factors (temperature, groundwater level), emission of CO2, CH4 and N2O and soil temperature and groundwater level were measured weekly or biweekly in loco over a one-year period at four sites located in Ljubljana Marsh, Slovenia using the static chamber technique. The study involved two fen and two bog soils differing in organic carbon and nitrogen content, pH, bulk density, water holding capacity and groundwater level. The lowest CO2 fluxes occurred during the winter, fluxes of N2O were highest during summer and early spring (February, March) and fluxes of CH4 were highest during autumn. The temporal variation in CO2 fluxes could be explained by seasonal temperature variations, whereas CH4 and N2O fluxes could be correlated to groundwater level and soil carbon content. The experimental sites were net sources of measured greenhouse gases except for the drained bog site, which was a net sink of CH4. The mean fluxes of CO2 ranged between 139 mg m−2 h−1 in the undrained bog and 206 mg m−2 h−1 in the drained fen; mean fluxes of CH4 were between −0.04 mg m−2 h−1 in the drained bog and 0.05 mg m−2 h−1 in the drained fen; and mean fluxes of N2O were between 0.43 mg m−2 h−1 in the drained fen and 1.03 mg m−2 h−1 in the drained bog. These results indicate that the examined peatlands emit similar amounts of CO2 and CH4 to peatlands in Central and Northern Europe and significantly higher amounts of N2O.