Abstract
Peatlands represent important archives of Holocene paleoclimatic information. However, autogenic processes may disconnect peatland hydrological behavior from climate and overwrite climatic signals in peat records. We use a simulation model of peatland development driven by a range of Holocene climate reconstructions to investigate climate signal preservation in peat records. Simulated water-table depths and peat decomposition profiles exhibit homeostatic recovery from prescribed changes in rainfall, whereas changes in temperature cause lasting alterations to peatland structure and function. Autogenic ecohydrological feedbacks provide both high- and low-pass filters for climatic information, particularly rainfall. Large-magnitude climatic changes of an intermediate temporal scale (i.e., multidecadal to centennial) are most readily preserved in our simulated peat records. Simulated decomposition signals are offset from the climatic changes that generate them due to a phenomenon known as secondary decomposition. Our study provides the mechanistic foundations for a framework to separate climatic and autogenic signals in peat records.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 10788-10797 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 24 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Dec 2015 |
Keywords
- 4.2 ka B.P. event
- DigiBog
- ecohydrological feedback
- Holocene climate
- peatland signal preservation
- peatland signal shredding
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geophysics
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)