Please cite this article in press as: Watts, A.C. Or Forest Ecol. Manage. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/1 Swamps, peatlands, and other wetland ecosystems can store vast amounts of carbon in organicallyderived peat soils. Wildfires during severe droughts can produce smoldering combustion in these soils, releasing large quantities of carbon to the atmosphere and causing dramatic changes at the local ...

Pineapples (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) cultivation on drained peats could affect the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and also the leaching of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Carbon dioxide emission needs to be partitioned before deciding on whether cultivated peat is net sink or net source of carbon. Partitioning of CO2 emission into root respiration, microbial respiration, ...

Peatland carbon and water cycling are tightly coupled, so dynamic modeling of peat accumulation over decades to millennia should account for carbon-water feedbacks. We present initial results from a new simulation model of long-term peat accumulation, evaluated at a wellstudied temperate bog in Ontario, Canada. The Holocene Peat Model (HPM) determines vegetation community composition dynamics a...

[1] With climate change rapidly affecting northern forests and wetlands, mercury reserves once protected in cold, wet soils are being exposed to burning, likely triggering large releases of mercury to the atmosphere. We quantify organic soil mercury stocks and burn areas across western, boreal Canada for use in fire emission models that explore controls of burn area, consumption severity, and f...

Studies of the properties of soil organic matter are essential for understanding the humification reactions and soil diagenesis processes. The aim of this study is to analyse properties of peat and peat humic acids as well as factors influencing their variability. Humic acids isolated from an ombrotrophic bog peat profile were used as study objects. Relations among peat age, decomposition and h...

Abstract Subsidence, erosion, and degradation in agricultural peatlands are leading to the disappearance of highly fertile farmland. This study investigated two strategies aimed at extending lifespan cultivated peat soils: application straw wood chips compensate for soil losses copper (Cu) slow decomposition, based on previous recommendations. Peat samples (270 g) were amended with 11 t ha –1 b...