The response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change is a key uncertainty. The response of northern peatlands has a high impact because they store a third of the global soil organic carbon reserves and act as net sources of CH4. Vegetation of arctic peatlands has changed as a result of thawing permafrost and their greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics have drastically altered. Recent studies on boreal peatlands indicate a drying trend in their vegetation composition but the response varies between peatland types. We aim to assess if the drying trend is a widespread phenomenon and also detectable in the GHG dynamics, and identify underlying mechanisms behind the ongoing change. We use a long-term experimental site in Finland, and a suite of EC sites in Finland, Sweden and Canada with the longest records of pristine boreal peatland GHG fluxes.

2020

2026