Water level variation at a beaver pond significantly impacts net CO 2 uptake of a continental bog

[摘要] The carbon ( C ) dynamics of northern peatlands are sensitive to hydrological changes owing to ecohydrological feedbacks. We quantified and evaluated the impact of water level variations in a beaver pond (BP) on the CO 2  flux dynamics of an adjacent, raised Sphagnum –shrub-dominated bog in southern Canada. We applied the CoupModel to the Mer Bleue bog, where the hydrological, energy and CO 2  fluxes have been measured continuously for over 20 years. The lateral flow of water from the bog to the BP was estimated by thehydraulic gradient between the peatland and the BP's water level and the vertical profile of peat hydraulic conductivity. The model outputs werecompared with the measured hydrological components, CO 2  flux and energy flux data (1998–2019). CoupModel was able to reproduce the measured data well. The simulation shows that variation in the BP water level (naturally occurring or due to management) influenced the bog net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO 2 . Over 1998–2004, the BP water level was 0.75 to 1.0  m lower than during 2017–2019. Simulated net CO 2  uptake was 55  g C m - 2 yr - 1 lower during 1998–2004 compared to 2017–2019 when there was no BP disturbance, which was similar to the differences in measured NEE between those periods. Peatland annual NEE was well correlated with water table depth (WTD) within the bog, and NEE also shows a linear relation with the water level at the BP, with a slope of − 120  g CO 2 - C m - 2 yr - 1 m - 1 . Thecurrent modelling predicts that the bog may switch from CO 2  sink to source when the BP water levels drop lower than ∼  1.7  m belowthe peat surface at the eddy covariance (EC) tower, located on the bog surface 250  m from the BP. This study highlights the importance of naturaland human disturbances to adjacent water bodies in regulating the net CO 2  uptake function of northern peatlands.

[学科分类] 妇产科学