Peat accumulation in northern wetlands

Abstract

Mean long-term rates of peat accumulation are higher in boreal and temperate peat deposits than in subarctic regions of Canada, although peatlands are extensive in the subarctic. Climatic change probably accounts for the development of southern peatlands during the middle to late Holocene and for the late Holocene decline in growth of many subarctic peat deposits. In northwestern peat deposits, peat of wet Sphagnum lawns and treed wetlands tended to accumulate more rapidly than peat of Sphagnum hummocks and sedge fens. Long-term net rates of carbon accumulation in Canadian peatlands typically range from 10 to 35 g C/m 2/yr.