High emissions of greenhouse gases from grasslands on peat and other organic soils
Drainage has turned peatlands from a carbon sink into one of the world's largest greenhouse gas (GHG) sources from cultivated soils. We analyzed a unique data set (12 peatlands, 48 sites and 122 annual budgets) of mainly unpublished GHG emissions from grasslands on bog and fen peat as well as other soils rich in soil organic carbon (SOC) in Germany. Emissions and environmental variables were measured with identical methods. Site-averaged GHG budgets were surprisingly variable (29.2 ± 17.4 t CO2 -eq. ha-1 yr-1 ) and partially higher than all published data and the IPCC default emission factors for GHG inventories. Generally, CO2 (27.7 ± 17.3 t CO2 ha-1 yr-1 ) dominated the GHG budget. Nit…
A new methodology for organic soils in national greenhouse gas inventories: Data synthesis, derivation and application
Abstract Drained organic soils are large sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) in many European and Asian countries. Therefore, these soils urgently need to be considered and adequately accounted for when attempting to decrease emissions from the Agriculture and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sectors. Here, we describe the methodology, data and results of the German approach for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of anthropogenic GHG emissions from drained organic soils and outline ways forward towards tracking drainage and rewetting. The methodology was developed for and is currently applied in the German GHG inventory under the United Nations Framewor…
Drained organic soils under agriculture — The more degraded the soil the higher the specific basal respiration
Abstract Drained peatlands are hotspots of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from agricultural soils. As a consequence of both drainage-induced mineralisation and anthropogenic mixing with mineral soils, large areas of former peatlands under agricultural use underwent a secondary transformation of the peat (e.g. formation of aggregates). These soils show contents of soil organic carbon (SOC) at the boundary between mineral and organic soils. However, the carbon (C) dynamics of such soils have rarely been studied so far. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the vulnerability of soil organic matter (SOM) to decomposition over the whole range of peat-derived soils under agriculture includ…