On October 31st, Joel White (University of Gothenburg) will give a presentation entitled "Not all peatlands are created equal: Three sub-arctic peatlands under rapid permafrost degradation.” We will meet from 12:00 and start the presentation at 12:15. We will meet in room 2418 in Kristine Bonnevies hus. It is also possible to follow the talk on Zoom. This link will be sent via email to CBA members.
Title: Not all peatlands are created equal: Three sub-arctic peatlands under rapid permafrost degradation
Synopsis: Permafrost peatlands, a subsection of natural wetlands, occupy more than 1.7 million km2 and are an important component of the permafrost carbon feedback. Permafrost thaw can result in the loss of a portion of the soil carbon into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide and methane, which could lead to positive feedback to climate change. The magnitude of this feedback will depend on the amount, rate, and form of the greenhouse gas emissions following permafrost thaw, which largely depend on the dynamics of the microbial communities that metabolises the organic matter and hence regulate the greenhouse gas fluxes from these peatlands. The role of microbial community composition on the ecosystem-scale greenhouse gas fluxes is still poorly understood and, despite the high spatial variability in microbial dynamics and thus greenhouse gas fluxes in high latitude peatlands, most studies focused on single locations. Here, we measured and compared a range of environmental variables, including greenhouse gas fluxes, the isotopic signature of emitted methane (δ13CCH4) C:N ratios, and whole metagenomic sequencing of the microbial communities, in three permafrost-affected peatlands in northern Sweden to investigate how different rates and stages of permafrost degradation affect the structure and functioning of microbial communities and associated greenhouse gas emission.