Dissertation Research: Impacts of Temperature and Precipitation on Peat-Carbon Dynamics in Alaska and Patagonia

Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA

Investigators

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation improvement project will study the relative importance of summer temperature and precipitation in controlling the carbon balance in peatlands in Alaska and southern Patagonia. Past shifts in the earth?s rotational axis have differentially affected temperatures in the northern and southern hemisphere. By examining past rates of carbon sequestration in cores from peatlands in both hemispheres the importance of past climate can be inferred. High latitude regions are experiencing warming at rates faster than elsewhere on earth. Because warming affects both the production and the decay of organic matter in peatlands, it is unclear how warming will affect carbon storage in peatland soils, which account for about one-third of soil carbon globally. Understanding the fate of carbon stored in peatlands is key to assessing the global carbon budget.