| Title | Widespread drying of European peatlands in recent centuries |
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| Author | Swindles, G T; Morris, P J; Mullan, D J; Payne, R J; Roland, T P; Amesbury, M J; Lamentowicz, M; Turner, T E; Gallego-Sala, A; Sim, T; Barr, I D; Blaauw, M; Blundell, A; Chambers, F M; Charman, D J;
Feurdean, A; Galloway, J M ; Galka, M; Green, S M; Kajukalo, K;
Karofeld, E; Korhola, A; Lamentowicz, L; Langdon, P; Marcisz, K; Mauquoy, D; Mazei, Y A; McKeown, M M; Mitchell, E A D; Novenko, E; Plunkett, G; Roe, H M; Schoning, K; Sillasoo, Ü; Tsyganov, A N; van der Linden, M; Väliranta, M; Warner, B |
| Source | Nature Geoscience vol. 12, issue 11, 2019 p. 922-928, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0462-z  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2019 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20190079 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf; html |
| Area | Europe |
| Lat/Long WENS | -10.0000 30.0000 70.0000 40.0000 |
| Subjects | environmental geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; hydrogeology; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; peatlands; climate effects; carbon geochemistry; hydrologic environment;
paleohydrology; testate amoeba; Climate change; Environmental management; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | time series; geoscientific sketch maps; bar graphs; tables |
| Program | Environmental
Geoscience Shale Gas - seismicity |
| Released | 2019 10 21 |
| Abstract | Climate warming and human impacts are thought to be causing peatlands to dry, potentially converting them from sinks to sources of carbon. However, it is unclear whether the hydrological status of
peatlands has moved beyond their natural envelope. Here we show that European peatlands have undergone substantial, widespread drying during the last ~300 years. We analyse testate amoeba-derived hydrological reconstructions from 31 peatlands across
Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and Continental Europe to examine changes in peatland surface wetness during the last 2,000 years. We find that 60% of our study sites were drier during the period 1800-2000?CE than they have been for the last 600 years,
40% of sites were drier than they have been for 1,000 years and 24% of sites were drier than they have been for 2,000 years. This marked recent transition in the hydrology of European peatlands is concurrent with compound pressures including climatic
drying, warming and direct human impacts on peatlands, although these factors vary among regions and individual sites. Our results suggest that the wetness of many European peatlands may now be moving away from natural baselines. Our findings
highlight the need for effective management and restoration of European peatlands. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Climate warming and human impacts are thought to be causing peatlands to become drier, potentially turning them from sinks to sources of carbon (C).
However, it is unclear whether the hydrological status of peatlands has moved beyond their natural envelope. We use hydrological reconstructions to examine changes in wetness in European peatlands during the last 2000 years. Compilation of data
shows that the majority of the peatlands have undergone drying over the past ~300 years. This transition is associated with drier climate conditions, climate warming, and human disturbance of peatlands. Results show that the hydrological status of
many European peatlands is now substantially different from their natural baselines, and highlight the need for effective management and restoration. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 314713 |
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