PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 32: Biogeochemistry
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Does size matter? In-situ pool carbon dynamics of a northern patterned peatland, James Bay, Quebec.
McEnroe, Nicola1, Roulet, Nigel2, 2, Moore, Tim, Garneau, Michelle, 1 McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada2 McGill School of Environment, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
ABSTRACT- Within northern peatlands, a distinct surface patterning forms due to the arrangement of pools and vegetated ridges, whose shape and distribution is thought to be size (or age) dependent. Pools result because of differential rates of peat accumulation and decomposition and with increasing size they become deeper relative to their surroundings and more elongated in shape. The orientation of pools is generally perpendicular to the prevailing slope, and hence to hydrological flow, with smaller pools forming at the margins and larger pools located on the central plateau. This characteristic peatland surface morphology plays a role in the spatial variability of carbon gas exchange, through an influence on vegetation community structure and hydrology. Pools take several hundred to thousands of years to form, so they influence the long-term carbon balance of northern peatlands. This paper examines the in-situ carbon biogeochemistry and carbon gas exchange across a transect of pools of various sizes in an ombrotrophic raised bog, James Bay, Quebec. The objective of the study is to determine whether differences in pool morphology lead to variations in carbon storage and exchange over space and time.
Key words: northern peatland, scale, development, carbon biogeochemistry