Environmental Research Letters (Jan 2020)
The biophysical climate mitigation potential of boreal peatlands during the growing season
- Manuel Helbig,
- James M Waddington,
- Pavel Alekseychik,
- Brian Amiro,
- Mika Aurela,
- Alan G Barr,
- T Andrew Black,
- Sean K Carey,
- Jiquan Chen,
- Jinshu Chi,
- Ankur R Desai,
- Allison Dunn,
- Eugenie S Euskirchen,
- Lawrence B Flanagan,
- Thomas Friborg,
- Michelle Garneau,
- Achim Grelle,
- Silvie Harder,
- Michal Heliasz,
- Elyn R Humphreys,
- Hiroki Ikawa,
- Pierre-Erik Isabelle,
- Hiroki Iwata,
- Rachhpal Jassal,
- Mika Korkiakoski,
- Juliya Kurbatova,
- Lars Kutzbach,
- Elena Lapshina,
- Anders Lindroth,
- Mikaell Ottosson Löfvenius,
- Annalea Lohila,
- Ivan Mammarella,
- Philip Marsh,
- Paul A Moore,
- Trofim Maximov,
- Daniel F Nadeau,
- Erin M Nicholls,
- Mats B Nilsson,
- Takeshi Ohta,
- Matthias Peichl,
- Richard M Petrone,
- Anatoly Prokushkin,
- William L Quinton,
- Nigel Roulet,
- Benjamin R K Runkle,
- Oliver Sonnentag,
- Ian B Strachan,
- Pierre Taillardat,
- Eeva-Stiina Tuittila,
- Juha-Pekka Tuovinen,
- Jessica Turner,
- Masahito Ueyama,
- Andrej Varlagin,
- Timo Vesala,
- Martin Wilmking,
- Vyacheslav Zyrianov,
- Christopher Schulze
Affiliations
- Manuel Helbig
- ORCiD
- School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University , Hamilton, ON, Canada; Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University , Halifax, NS, Canada
- James M Waddington
- ORCiD
- School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University , Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Pavel Alekseychik
- ORCiD
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland; Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Bioeconomy and Environment , Helsinki, Finland
- Brian Amiro
- ORCiD
- Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Mika Aurela
- ORCiD
- Finnish Meteorological Institute , Helsinki, Finland
- Alan G Barr
- ORCiD
- Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada , Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon, SK, Canada
- T Andrew Black
- Faculty of Land and Food Systems, The University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Sean K Carey
- ORCiD
- School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University , Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Jiquan Chen
- ORCiD
- Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University , MI, United States of America
- Jinshu Chi
- ORCiD
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Umea, Sweden
- Ankur R Desai
- ORCiD
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI, United States of America
- Allison Dunn
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth, Environment, and Physics, Worcester State University , Worcester, MA, United States of America
- Eugenie S Euskirchen
- ORCiD
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of America
- Lawrence B Flanagan
- ORCiD
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge , Lethbridge, AB, Canada
- Thomas Friborg
- ORCiD
- Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, Denmark
- Michelle Garneau
- Université du Québec à Montréal - Geotop , Montréal, QC, Canada
- Achim Grelle
- ORCiD
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Uppsala, Sweden
- Silvie Harder
- ORCiD
- Department of Geography, McGill University , Montréal, QC, Canada
- Michal Heliasz
- ORCiD
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University , Lund, Sweden
- Elyn R Humphreys
- ORCiD
- Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University , Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Hiroki Ikawa
- ORCiD
- Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization , Tsukuba, Japan
- Pierre-Erik Isabelle
- ORCiD
- Département de génie civil et de génie des eaux, Université Laval , Quebec City, QC, Canada
- Hiroki Iwata
- ORCiD
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Shinshu University , Matsumoto, Japan
- Rachhpal Jassal
- ORCiD
- Faculty of Land and Food Systems, The University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Mika Korkiakoski
- ORCiD
- Finnish Meteorological Institute , Helsinki, Finland
- Juliya Kurbatova
- ORCiD
- A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences , Russia
- Lars Kutzbach
- ORCiD
- Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg , Hamburg, Germany
- Elena Lapshina
- ORCiD
- Center of Environmental Dynamics and Climate Changes, Yugra State University , Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
- Anders Lindroth
- ORCiD
- Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University , Lund, Sweden
- Mikaell Ottosson Löfvenius
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Umea, Sweden
- Annalea Lohila
- ORCiD
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland; Finnish Meteorological Institute , Helsinki, Finland
- Ivan Mammarella
- ORCiD
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland
- Philip Marsh
- ORCiD
- Cold Regions Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University , Waterloo, ON, Canada
- Paul A Moore
- ORCiD
- School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University , Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Trofim Maximov
- Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences , Yakutsk, Russia
- Daniel F Nadeau
- ORCiD
- Département de génie civil et de génie des eaux, Université Laval , Quebec City, QC, Canada
- Erin M Nicholls
- ORCiD
- School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University , Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Mats B Nilsson
- ORCiD
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Umea, Sweden
- Takeshi Ohta
- Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University , Nagoya, Japan
- Matthias Peichl
- ORCiD
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Umea, Sweden
- Richard M Petrone
- Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo , Waterloo, ON, Canada
- Anatoly Prokushkin
- ORCiD
- V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Krasnoyarsk, Russia
- William L Quinton
- ORCiD
- Cold Regions Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University , Waterloo, ON, Canada
- Nigel Roulet
- ORCiD
- Department of Geography, McGill University , Montréal, QC, Canada
- Benjamin R K Runkle
- ORCiD
- Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg , Hamburg, Germany; Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas , Fayetteville, AR, United States of America
- Oliver Sonnentag
- ORCiD
- Département de géographie & Centre d’études nordiques, Université de Montréal , Montréal, QC, Canada
- Ian B Strachan
- ORCiD
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University , Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada
- Pierre Taillardat
- ORCiD
- Université du Québec à Montréal - Geotop , Montréal, QC, Canada
- Eeva-Stiina Tuittila
- School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland , Joensuu, Finland
- Juha-Pekka Tuovinen
- ORCiD
- Finnish Meteorological Institute , Helsinki, Finland
- Jessica Turner
- ORCiD
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI, United States of America
- Masahito Ueyama
- ORCiD
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University , Sakai, Japan
- Andrej Varlagin
- ORCiD
- A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences , Russia
- Timo Vesala
- ORCiD
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Forest Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki , Finland
- Martin Wilmking
- ORCiD
- Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald , Greifswald, Germany
- Vyacheslav Zyrianov
- V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Krasnoyarsk, Russia
- Christopher Schulze
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta , Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abab34
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 15,
no. 10
p. 104004
Abstract
Peatlands and forests cover large areas of the boreal biome and are critical for global climate regulation. They also regulate regional climate through heat and water vapour exchange with the atmosphere. Understanding how land-atmosphere interactions in peatlands differ from forests may therefore be crucial for modelling boreal climate system dynamics and for assessing climate benefits of peatland conservation and restoration. To assess the biophysical impacts of peatlands and forests on peak growing season air temperature and humidity, we analysed surface energy fluxes and albedo from 35 peatlands and 37 evergreen needleleaf forests—the dominant boreal forest type—and simulated air temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) over hypothetical homogeneous peatland and forest landscapes. We ran an evapotranspiration model using land surface parameters derived from energy flux observations and coupled an analytical solution for the surface energy balance to an atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) model. We found that peatlands, compared to forests, are characterized by higher growing season albedo, lower aerodynamic conductance, and higher surface conductance for an equivalent VPD. This combination of peatland surface properties results in a ∼20% decrease in afternoon ABL height, a cooling (from 1.7 to 2.5 °C) in afternoon air temperatures, and a decrease in afternoon VPD (from 0.4 to 0.7 kPa) for peatland landscapes compared to forest landscapes. These biophysical climate impacts of peatlands are most pronounced at lower latitudes (∼45°N) and decrease toward the northern limit of the boreal biome (∼70°N). Thus, boreal peatlands have the potential to mitigate the effect of regional climate warming during the growing season. The biophysical climate mitigation potential of peatlands needs to be accounted for when projecting the future climate of the boreal biome, when assessing the climate benefits of conserving pristine boreal peatlands, and when restoring peatlands that have experienced peatland drainage and mining.
Keywords
