Potential carbon losses from peat profiles: effects of temperature, drought cycles, and fire

Global warming and the resultant increase in evapotranspiration might lead to lowered water tables in peatlands and an increase in fire frequency. The objective of this study was to investigate some of the potential effects of these changes on peat decomposition. Dry mass losses and emissions of CO"2 and CH"4 from peat samples taken from three depth layers (0-10, 10-20, and 30-40 cm) of a black spruce peatland were measured in the laboratory at 8@?, 16@?, and 24@?C under two moisture treatments. Effects of deep peat fire on decomposition were also simulated by burning the upper layer (0-10 cm) of peat and adding the ash to peat samples from the 10-20 cm layer. CH"4 release averaged