Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term macronutrient stoichiometry of UK ombrotrophic peatlands
AU - Schillereff, Daniel N.
AU - Boyle, John
AU - Toberman, Hannah
AU - Adams, Jessica L.
AU - Bryant, Charlotte L.
AU - Chiverrell, Richard C.
AU - Helliwell, Rachel C.
AU - Keenan, Patrick Owen
AU - Lilly, Allan
AU - Tipping, Edward William
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - In this paper we report new data on peat carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and accumulation rates for 15 sites in the UK. Concentrations of C, N and P measured in peat from five ombrotrophic blanket mires, spanning 4000–10,000 years to present were combined with existing nutrient data from ten Scottish ombrotrophic peat bogs to provide the first UK perspective on millennial scale macronutrient concentrations in ombrotrophic peats. Long-term average C, N and P concentrations (0–1.25 m) for the UK are 54.8, 1.56 and 0.039 wt%, of similar magnitude to the few published comparable sites worldwide. The uppermost peat (0–0.2 m) is enriched in P and N (51.0, 1.86, and 0.070 wt%) relative to the deeper peat (0.5–1.25 m, 56.3, 1.39, and 0.027 wt%). Long-term average (whole core) accumulation rates of C, N and P are 25.3 ± 2.2 gC m− 2 year−1 (mean ± SE), 0.70 ± 0.09 gN m− 2 year− 1 and 0.018 ± 0.004 gP m− 2 year− 1, again similar to values reported elsewhere in the world. The two most significant findings are: 1) that a regression model of N concentration on P concentration and mean annual precipitation, based on global meta data for surface peat samples, can explain 54% of variance in N concentration in these UK peat profiles; and 2) budget calculations for the UK peat cores yield an estimate for long-term average N-fixation of 0.8 g m− 2 year− 1. Our UK results, and comparison with others sites, corroborate published estimates of N storage in northern boreal peatlands through the Holocene as ranging between 8 and 15 Pg N. However, the observed correlation of N% with both mean annual precipitation and P concentration allows a potential bias in global estimates that do not take this into account.The peat sampling data set has been deposited at the NERC Data Centre (Toberman et al., 2016).
AB - In this paper we report new data on peat carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and accumulation rates for 15 sites in the UK. Concentrations of C, N and P measured in peat from five ombrotrophic blanket mires, spanning 4000–10,000 years to present were combined with existing nutrient data from ten Scottish ombrotrophic peat bogs to provide the first UK perspective on millennial scale macronutrient concentrations in ombrotrophic peats. Long-term average C, N and P concentrations (0–1.25 m) for the UK are 54.8, 1.56 and 0.039 wt%, of similar magnitude to the few published comparable sites worldwide. The uppermost peat (0–0.2 m) is enriched in P and N (51.0, 1.86, and 0.070 wt%) relative to the deeper peat (0.5–1.25 m, 56.3, 1.39, and 0.027 wt%). Long-term average (whole core) accumulation rates of C, N and P are 25.3 ± 2.2 gC m− 2 year−1 (mean ± SE), 0.70 ± 0.09 gN m− 2 year− 1 and 0.018 ± 0.004 gP m− 2 year− 1, again similar to values reported elsewhere in the world. The two most significant findings are: 1) that a regression model of N concentration on P concentration and mean annual precipitation, based on global meta data for surface peat samples, can explain 54% of variance in N concentration in these UK peat profiles; and 2) budget calculations for the UK peat cores yield an estimate for long-term average N-fixation of 0.8 g m− 2 year− 1. Our UK results, and comparison with others sites, corroborate published estimates of N storage in northern boreal peatlands through the Holocene as ranging between 8 and 15 Pg N. However, the observed correlation of N% with both mean annual precipitation and P concentration allows a potential bias in global estimates that do not take this into account.The peat sampling data set has been deposited at the NERC Data Centre (Toberman et al., 2016).
KW - Carbon
KW - Nitrogen
KW - Ombrotrophic
KW - Peat
KW - Phosphorus
KW - Stoichiometry
KW - Holocene
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.180
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.180
M3 - Journal article
VL - 572
SP - 1561
EP - 1572
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
ER -