Earth Sciences Commons^™

Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning To Characterize Peatland Microtopography And Assess Tree Growth Responses To Elevated Temperature And Co2, Jake D. Graham

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Northern peatlands are a major terrestrial carbon (C) store, with an annual sink of 0.1 Pg C yr^-1 and a total storage estimate of 547 Pg C. Northern peatlands are also major contributors of atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The microtopography of peatlands helps modulate peatland carbon fluxes; however, there is a lack of quantitative characterizations of microtopography in the literature. The lack of formalized schemes to characterize microtopography makes comparisons between studies difficult. Further, many land surface models do not accurately simulate peatland C emissions, in part because they do not adequately represent peatland microtopography and hydrology. …