A5030034598- Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
- Climate change and permafrost
- Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
- Mercury impact and mitigation studies
- Cryospheric studies and observations
- Geological formations and processes
- Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
- Indigenous Studies and Ecology
- Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies
- Fire effects on ecosystems
Queen's University Belfast
2024-2025
University of Leeds
2020-2023
University of Exeter
2023
Abstract In northern peatlands, near‐saturated surface conditions promote valuable ecosystem services such as carbon storage and drinking water provision. Peat saturated hydraulic conductivity ( K sat ) plays an important role in maintaining wet by moderating drainage evapotranspiration. can exhibit intense spatial variability three dimensions change rapidly response to disturbance. The development of skillful predictive equations for peat other properties, akin mineral soil pedotransfer...
Northern peatlands store globally-important amounts of carbon in the form partly decomposed plant detritus. Drying associated with climate and land-use change may lead to increased fire frequency severity rapid loss atmosphere. However, our understanding patterns drivers peatland burning on an appropriate decadal millennial timescale relies heavily individual site-based reconstructions. For first time, we synthesise macrocharcoal records from across North America, Europe, Patagonia reveal...
Palsas and peat plateaus are climatically sensitive landforms in permafrost peatlands. Climate envelope models have previously related palsa/peat plateau distributions Europe to modern climate, but similar bioclimatic modelling has not been attempted for North America. Recent climate change rendered many palsas/peat this region, their valuable carbon stores, vulnerable. We fitted a binary logistic regression model predict presence America by relating the distribution of 352 extant gridded...
Abstract Nascent peatlands represent an emerging, nature‐based carbon sink in the global climate system. A warming and changing precipitation regime could drive peat initiation beyond current latitudinal altitudinal boundaries of peatland bioclimatic envelope, through increases plant productivity moisture availability, with potential implications for radiative forcing. However, contemporaneous observations new formation remain scarce. We investigate within deglaciating Rob Roy valley...
Peatlands have been widely recognised as important carbon stores, ecological habitats and natural hydrological buffers. However, comparatively less attention has given to the role of peatlands long-term stores pollutants, particularly toxic metals metalloids (TMMs). Furthermore, potential for their release is poorly understood. An improved understanding TMM distribution in critical, because climate warming risks increasing mobilisation, through enhanced decomposition changes processes, with...
Vegetation shifts in circum-Arctic permafrost peatlands drive feedbacks with important consequences for peatland carbon budgets and the extent of thaw under changing climate. Recent shrub expansion across Arctic tundra environments has led to an increase above-ground biomass, but long-term spatiotemporal dynamics tree growth remain unquantified. We investigate changes vegetation composition during Holocene using previously-published plant macrofossil records from 76 sites zone. In...
Abstract Permafrost peatlands are vulnerable to rapid structural changes under climatic warming, including vertical collapse. Peatland water budgets, and therefore peat hydraulic properties, important determinants of vegetation carbon fluxes. Measurements properties exist for only a limited number permafrost peatland locations, primarily concentrated in North America. The impacts thaw‐induced collapse upon such as horizontal saturated conductivity ( K h ), thus lateral drainage, remain...
Peat accumulates when there is a positive mass balance between plant productivity inputs and litter/peat decomposition losses. Here we examine apparent peat accumulation rates (aPAR) during the last two millennia from 28 well-dated European peatlands find them to range 0.005 0.448 cm yr-1 (mean = 0.118 yr-1). Our work provides important context for commonplace assertion that accumulate at ~1mm per year. We relationships aPAR climatic variables are generally weak – summer...
<p>Human-induced climate change during the 21<sup>st</sup> century is expected to thaw large expanses of permafrost peatlands - one Earth’s largest terrestrial carbon stores. Whilst frozen, peatland fluxes are inhibited by cold temperatures, but emissions dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) substantially increase post-thaw. Peatland often characterised presence...
<p>Northern permafrost peatlands represent one of Earth’s largest terrestrial carbon stores and are highly sensitive to climate change. Whilst frozen, peatland fluxes restricted by cold temperatures, but once thaws saturated surficial conditions develop, emissions dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) substantially increase. This positive feedback mechanism threatens accelerate future change...