Peatland development and carbon dynamics since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Hengduan Mountains Region

Abstract

Peatlands serve as a large carbon (C) reservoir in the biosphere. Knowledge of their initiation, expansion and peat-accumulation can help predicting peat carbon fate under climate change scenarios. This study presented a data synthesis of peatland basal ages, area changes and C accumulation rate variations in the Hengduan Mountains Region (HDMR) since the Last Glacial Maximum. The HDMR peatlands showed initiation peaks at 14.5–13 ka BP, 12–10 ka BP and 7.5–5 ka BP; these three peaks are similar, respectively, to the peaks for Southern, Northern and Tropical peatlands. The peat C accumulation rates in the HDMR ranged from 3.6 to 118.3 g C m−2 yr−1, with a mean value of 34.9 g C m−2 yr−1. Mean peat C accumulation in the HDMR peatlands during the Last Glacial Maximum was 34.7 g C m−2 yr−1 in the North and 41.5 g C m−2 yr−1 in the South. We estimate the C pool to be 1.95 Pg over the entire HDMR peatlands, with 1.73 Pg in the North and 0.22 Pg in the South. Our results suggest that the widespread peatland initiation and rapid peat accumulation in the HDMR reflect the regional environmental conditions.