Abstract
Most models of carbon balance processes in northern peatlands were developed to apply at the scale of small peatland features such as hummocks and hollows, which may have linear extents of 10 0 -10 1 m, or at the scale of individual peatlands (up to 10 4 m). However, many have been applied at the much larger scale of cells in land surface schemes (typically, 1° latitude x 1° longitude or larger), which are linked to global circulation models. In these larger representations, as with the scale for which the models were originally developed, they take some account of vertical variability through the peat profile but ignore horizontal variability in vegetation and peat properties. That is, they contain a single vegetation type, a horizontally uniform slab of peat, and predict a single water table position: they represent the peatland as a and In this chapter, we examine the accuracy of assuming that carbon balance processes in spatially variable peatlands can be represented as a bucket and slab. We focus on methane (CH 4 ) fluxes from peatlands and, using scaling theory, suggest there is a need to consider small-scale patterning (10 1 -10 2 m) when estimating whole-peatland behavior. In other words, we propose that the bucket-and-slab approach may not be suitable for upscaling peatland carbon cycling processes. We present an alternative, but untested, approach as well as an agenda for future work on how interactions across scales affect peatland functioning.
Published Version
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