Development of Finnish peatland area and carbon storage 1950–2000

This study summarizes the present knowledge of Finnish peatland areas and carbon (C) storage in peat from 1950 to 2000. In 1950, approximately 8.8 million ha of the Finnish peatland area was still undisturbed and 1.4 million ha drained. In 2000, almost 55% (5.7 million ha) of the peatland area in Finland was drained for forestry, 38.4% (4.0 million ha) was undrained, 0.8% (85 000 ha) was in agriculture, 0.6% (60 000 ha) was under water reservoirs, 0.3% (35 000 ha) was under roads and 0.6% was in peat harvesting or had been removed from the harvesting business (63 000 ha). The change in mire area is considered relatively reliable, whereas the net changes in the actual C sequestration and the actual C storage change from 1950 to 2000 involves much more uncertainty. In 2000, the total C storage of Finnish peatland ecosystems was estimated at 5960 Tg, which includes 5304 Tg as peat. Since 1950, the C sequestration of undrained and drained peatlands (peat, plant biomass) basically compensated for the anthropogenic losses. The most important forms of anthropogenic C losses have occurred from agricultural peat soils, water reservoirs, harvested peat and DOC output from forestry drained peatlands. From 1950 to 2000, the total C storage of Finnish peatlands, which includes peat and living plant biomass, was estimated to increased by 52 Tg because the intensive peatland drainage significantly increased the total C storage of vegetation. However, the actual C storage in peat decreased by about 73 Tg. The well-defined changes include the decrease of mire diversity because of forestry drainage.

[1]  J. Turunen,et al.  Carbon accumulation in the mineral subsoil of boreal mires , 1999 .

[2]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Methane fluxes on boreal peatlands of different fertility and the effect of long‐term experimental lowering of the water table on flux rates , 1998 .

[3]  William H. McDowell,et al.  Soil C:N ratio as a predictor of annual riverine DOC flux at local and global scales , 2000 .

[4]  Jukka Turunen,et al.  Estimating carbon accumulation rates of undrained mires in Finland–application to boreal and subarctic regions , 2002 .

[5]  R. Korhonen,et al.  Carbon balance and radiative forcing of Finnish peatlands 1900–2100 – the impact of forestry drainage , 2002 .

[6]  Jukka Turunen,et al.  Carbon accumulation in peatland , 1998 .

[7]  J. Rieley,et al.  Wise use of mires and peatlands , 2002 .

[8]  Jukka Turunen,et al.  Nitrogen deposition and increased carbon accumulation in ombrotrophic peatlands in eastern Canada , 2004 .

[9]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Emissions of CH4, N20 and CO2 from a virgin fen and a fen drained for grassland in Finland , 1995 .

[10]  Metsäntutkimuslaitos,et al.  Kasvit muuttuvassa metsäluonnossa , 2000 .

[11]  E. Gorham,et al.  THE PALEORECORD OF GEOCHEMISTRY AND HYDROLOGY IN NORTHERN PEATLANDS AND ITS RELATION TO GLOBAL CHANGE , 1992 .

[12]  Geologian tutkimuskeskus,et al.  Global peat resources , 1996 .

[13]  K. Minkkinen,et al.  Long-term effect of forest drainage on the peat carbon stores of pine mires in Finland , 1998 .

[14]  J. Houghton,et al.  Climate change : the IPCC scientific assessment , 1990 .

[15]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Greenhouse gas emissions from cultivated and abandoned organic croplands in Finland , 2007 .

[16]  E. Tuittila,et al.  Emission factors and their uncertainty for the exchange of CO2, CH4 and N2O in Finnish managed peatlands , 2007 .

[17]  P. Martikainen,et al.  Methane fluxes on agricultural and forested boreal organic soils , 2003 .

[18]  Raimo Virkkala,et al.  Metsien ja soiden suojelutilanne metsä- ja suokasvillisuusvyöhykkeittäin valtakunnan metsien 8. inventoinnin perusteella , 2000 .

[19]  T. Moore,et al.  Controls on carbon accumulation and storage in the mineral subsoil beneath peat in Lakkasuo mire, central Finland , 2003 .

[20]  M. Billett,et al.  Linking land‐atmosphere‐stream carbon fluxes in a lowland peatland system , 2004 .

[21]  Jeff Warburton,et al.  Carbon budget for a British upland peat catchment. , 2003, The Science of the total environment.

[22]  Wilfred M. Post,et al.  Soil carbon pools and world life zones , 1982, Nature.

[23]  K. Minkkinen.  Effect of forestry drainage on the carbon balance and radiative forcing of peatlands in Finland , 1999 .

[24]  J. Turunen,et al.  Accumulation rates of carbon in mires in Finland and implications for climate change , 1996 .

[25]  R. S. Clymo,et al.  Implications of Peat Accumulation at Point Escuminac, New Brunswick , 1993, Quaternary Research.

[26]  P. Kauppi,et al.  Carbon reservoirs in peatlands and forests in the boreal regions of Finland. , 1997 .

[27]  P. Richard,et al.  Contemporary carbon balance and late Holocene carbon accumulation in a northern peatland , 2007 .

[28]  Eija Alakangas,et al.  Suomessa käytettävien polttoaineiden ominaisuuksia , 2000 .

[29]  P. Martikainen,et al.  CARBON BALANCE OF A BOREAL BOG DURING A YEAR WITH AN EXCEPTIONALLY DRY SUMMER , 1999 .

[30]  Arto J. Niskanen,et al.  Fluxes of CH4, CO2, and N2O in hydroelectric reservoirs Lokka and Porttipahta in the northern boreal zone in Finland , 2002 .

[31]  E. Gorham.  Northern Peatlands: Role in the Carbon Cycle and Probable Responses to Climatic Warming. , 1991, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[32]  J. Turunen,et al.  The role of fire in the carbon dynamics of a mire, eastern Finland , 1999 .