MSGID: 1:317/3 6279eacd   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Are new carbon sinks appearing in the Arctic?    
      
     Date:   
         May 9, 2022   
     Source:   
         University of Helsinki   
     Summary:   
         Global warming can result in the spread of peatland vegetation in   
         the Arctic. An international research group has discovered signs of   
         'proto- peat', which may be the beginning of new peatlands.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Global warming can result in the spread of peatland vegetation in   
   the Arctic.   
      
   An international research group has discovered signs of 'proto-peat',   
   which may be the beginning of new peatlands.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   In 2018, an international research group bored for soil samples in three   
   sites around the Isfjorden fjord in Svalbard, which is part of Norway. The   
   same phenomenon was seen each boring site: mineral soil covered by a   
   thin layer of organic matter. In other words, this layer contains a lot   
   of carbon extracted from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.   
      
   The research group headed by researcher Minna Va"liranta from the   
   University of Helsinki has given the name 'proto-peat' to such organic   
   soil accumulations, which are composed mostly of moss formed in   
   increasingly warm arctic climate conditions.   
      
   "It's not yet peat in the actual sense of the word, but you could say   
   it's the starting point for the formation of peat," says Va"liranta,   
   who works at the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences. The   
   research group also includes Teemu Juselius and Sanna Piilo, doctoral   
   researchers under Va"liranta's supervision.   
      
   Such proto-peat deposits elicit interest also internationally. Va"liranta   
   is involved in a larger project funded by the Natural Environment Research   
   Council (NERC), a British institution corresponding to the Academy of   
   Finland. This project investigates precisely the same phenomenon, that   
   is, whether global warming has already led to the spread of peatland   
   vegetation into the Arctic.   
      
   This spread of vegetation is part of a more extensive phenomenon known as   
   'arctic greening', which commonly refers to increasing shrub growth in   
   the Arctic, as vascular plants spread to regions previously barren.   
      
   "If this process that generates proto-peat occurs extensively, an   
   unexpected carbon reservoir, or a plant community that mitigates climate   
   change, may be in the process of establishing itself in the north. This   
   reservoir has not been included in the modelling of ecosystems and the   
   atmosphere, as it has traditionally been thought that no new peatlands   
   are formed," Va"liranta notes.   
      
   Climate-ecosystem models are continually evolving, and only recently   
   have attempts been made to include the impact of peatlands in such models.   
      
   "You can say that the discovery of new carbon sinks brings into play a   
   new component that must be considered in models to better predict the   
   functioning of ecosystems in a warming climate," Va"liranta says.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Helsinki. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. T. Juselius, V. Ravolainen, H. Zhang, S. Piilo, M. Mu"ller,   
      A. Gallego-   
         Sala, M. Va"liranta. Newly initiated carbon stock, organic   
         soil accumulation patterns and main driving factors in the High   
         Arctic Svalbard, Norway. Scientific Reports, 2022; 12 (1) DOI:   
         10.1038/s41598- 022-08652-9   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220509162819.htm   
      
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