Regulation of Nitrogen Removal and Retention in Sphagnum bogs and Other Peatlands

Abstract

Nitrogen concentrations range from 0.3-1.3% in ombrotrophic peat of raised bogs. Within ombrogenous bogs, the N concentration of the peat increases in oceanic regions, with the highest concentrations found in blanket bogs on Southern Hemisphere islands. In minerotrophic peat, N concentrations increase with age (depth) as in upland humus. In this paper, I propose that N immobilization is truncated at low levels in ombrotrophic peat because 1) microbial activity is reduced well below that determined by environmental conditions, and 2) N is not limiting decay, in spite of low N concentrations. Consequently, net mineralization of N occurs at C:N quotients 80 to over 100 in inland raised bogs. Nutrient deficiency, probably P deficiency, appears to limit microbial activity and N immobilization. The increased N immobilization in oceanic bogs is attributed to higher Mg inputs that stimulate the biochemical release of P by enzymatic catalysis, and hence increase microbial activity. In ombrotrophic bogs, peat formed during periods of slow accumulation and long residence in the acrotelm has the highest N concentrations but, paradoxically, has also lost more of its original N content than peat that accumulated rapidly. Irregular changes in the anaerobic peat reflect conditions of decay when the peat was in the acrotelm. In a dated profile, N losses were largest during the last 2000 yr. This indicates a change in environmental conditions in the surface peat. Presumably, during this period the bog reached its maximum elevation with respect to the water mound that can be maintained in the peat under the present climatic conditions, and N losses increased as peat accumulation decreased.