Abstract
AbstractBlanket bogs are a globally rare type of ombrotrophic peatland internationally recognized for long‐term terrestrial carbon storage, the potential to serve as carbon sinks, habitat provision and for their palaeoenvironmental archive. This habitat is protected in the European Union under the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), but a number of blanket bogs located in the Cantabrian Mountains (northern Spain), representing the southernmost known edge‐of‐range for this habitat in Europe, are currently not recognized and are at increased threat of loss.Using climatic data, topography, aerial photography and peat depth surveys, this study has identified 10 new areas of blanket bog located between the administrative regions of Cantabria and Castilla y León. Peat depth data and topography were used to provide a detailed geomorphological description and hydromorphological classification (mesotope units) of these currently unrecognized areas of blanket bog.Maximum peat depth measured across the 10 sites ranged from 1.61 to 3.78 m, covering a total area of 18.6 ha of blanket bog (>40 cm peat depth). The volume of peat accumulated across the sites was determined to be more than 216 000 m3 and is estimated to hold 19.89 ± 3.51 kt C. Twenty‐four individual hydrological mesotope units were described, indicating a diverse assemblage of blanket bogs in this region.The peatlands identified in this research extend the known limit of blanket bogs in Europe farther south than previously recorded and – combined with four other unprotected blanket bogs recently identified in the Cantabrian Mountains – these peatlands represent 10.5% of blanket bog currently recognized and protected in Spain. The range of anthropogenic pressures currently acting on peatlands in the Cantabrian Mountains indicates that without protection these important landforms and stored carbon may be lost. An urgent update of European peatland inventories is thus required to preserve these valuable carbon stores and potential carbon sinks. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Highlights
Peat-forming ecosystems develop in environments where the decomposition of plant and organic matter is inhibited, primarily as a result of anoxic conditions caused by surface waterlogging (Sjörs, 1948; Gorham, 1953; Moore and Bellamy, 1974)
Extending the work presented in Chico et al (2019a), this study has identified and mapped 10 further areas of currently unrecognized blanket bog in northern Spain and classified these to mesotope level
The location of these blanket bogs extends the reported edge-of-range of this habitat in Europe (Heras et al, 2017; Chico et al, 2019a), 2.5km farther south, and the maximum peat depth recorded at Malverde (3.78m) is the greatest value of peat depth recorded for a blanket bog in the Cantabrian Mountains (1m more than the greatest peat depth recorded at Zalama; Chico et al, 2019a)
Summary
Peat-forming ecosystems (mires) develop in environments where the decomposition of plant and organic matter is inhibited, primarily as a result of anoxic conditions caused by surface waterlogging (Sjörs, 1948; Gorham, 1953; Moore and Bellamy, 1974). An estimated 650000km of known peatlands are reported as damaged or degraded, and release 5–6% of global greenhouse gases, including CO2, CH4 and N2O (Joosten, 2009). In this condition peatlands could act as carbon sources (Parish et al, 2008), but when restored they have the capacity to re-establish a function as carbon sinks (Nugent et al, 2018). The protection, restoration and conservation of peatland environments is, a key action in helping to mitigate climate change (Joosten et al, 2017)
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