Only about half of the carbon released through the conversion of peat to croplands was compensated by continuous carbon absorption in natural northern peatlands.
Only about half of the carbon released through the conversion of peat to croplands was compensated by continuous carbon absorption in natural northern peatlands.
Peatlands are a type of wetland which store more organic carbon than any other type of land ecosystem in the world.
Due to waterlogged conditions, dead plant materials do not fully decay and carbon accumulates in peatlands over thousands of years.
Therefore, natural peatlands help to cool the climate by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and trapping carbon in soils.
However, artificial drainage of peatlands for agriculture aerates the soil and enhances the decay of organic matter, rapidly releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
Arctic peatland in Svalbard (Photo Credit: Angela Gallego-Sala)
Read more at: University of Exeter
