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Forest Sciences

Michigan Tech Publications

Peatlands

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Mountain Wetland Soil Carbon Stocks Of Huascarán National Park, Peru, Rodney Chimner, Sigrid Resh, John A. Hribljan, Michael Battaglia, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Gillian Bowser, Erik A. Lilleskov Apr 2023

Mountain Wetland Soil Carbon Stocks Of Huascarán National Park, Peru, Rodney Chimner, Sigrid Resh, John A. Hribljan, Michael Battaglia, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Gillian Bowser, Erik A. Lilleskov

Michigan Tech Publications

Although wetlands contain a disproportionately high amount of earth’s total soil carbon, many regions are still poorly mapped and with unquantified carbon stocks. The tropical Andes contain a high concentration of wetlands consisting mostly of wet meadows and peatlands, yet their total organic carbon stocks are poorly quantified, as well as the carbon fraction that wet meadows store compared to peatlands. Therefore, our goal was to quantify how soil carbon stocks vary between wet meadows and peatlands for a previously mapped Andean region, Huascarán National Park, Peru. Our secondary goal was to test a rapid peat sampling protocol to facilitate …


Challenges And Opportunities For Restoration Of High-Elevation Andean Peatlands In Ecuador, Esteban Suarez, Segundo Chimbolema, Ricardo Jaramillo, Leo Zurita-Arthos, Paul Arellano, Rodney Chimner, John S. Stanovick, Erik A. Lilleskov Apr 2022

Challenges And Opportunities For Restoration Of High-Elevation Andean Peatlands In Ecuador, Esteban Suarez, Segundo Chimbolema, Ricardo Jaramillo, Leo Zurita-Arthos, Paul Arellano, Rodney Chimner, John S. Stanovick, Erik A. Lilleskov

Michigan Tech Publications

Páramo peatlands are a regional reservoir of biodiversity and ecosystem services, accumulating large amounts of carbon and buffering water flows. Despite their importance, they have a long history of use and impacts including drainage for agriculture and grazing, and water withdrawal for human uses. Here we present a preliminary assessment of the conservation status of páramo peatlands in Ecuador and, using a case study, discuss peatland restoration as a tool for mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of current climate change. Through a simple index assessing the cumulative presence of signs of human activities on 163 peatland sites, we found …


Characterizing Boreal Peatland Plant Composition And Species Diversity With Hyperspectral Remote Sensing, Mara Y. Mcpartland, Michael J. Falkowski, Jason R. Reinhardy, Evan Kane, Randall K Kolka, Merritt R. Turetsky, Et Al. Jul 2019

Characterizing Boreal Peatland Plant Composition And Species Diversity With Hyperspectral Remote Sensing, Mara Y. Mcpartland, Michael J. Falkowski, Jason R. Reinhardy, Evan Kane, Randall K Kolka, Merritt R. Turetsky, Et Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

Peatlands, which account for approximately 15% of land surface across the arctic and boreal regions of the globe, are experiencing a range of ecological impacts as a result of climate change. Factors that include altered hydrology resulting from drought and permafrost thaw, rising temperatures, and elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been shown to cause plant community compositional changes. Shifts in plant composition affect the productivity, species diversity, and carbon cycling of peatlands. We used hyperspectral remote sensing to characterize the response of boreal peatland plant composition and species diversity to warming, hydrologic change, and elevated CO2. …