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Did fires drive Holocene carbon sequestration in boreal ombrotrophic peatlands of eastern Canada?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2012

Simon van Bellen ,
Michelle Garneau ,
Adam A. Ali  and
Yves Bergeron
Simon van Bellen*
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen, School of Geosciences, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, United Kingdom
Michelle Garneau
Affiliation:
DÉCLIQUE UQAM-Hydro-Quebec Chair and Département de Géographie/GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal, Succursale Centre-Ville, C.P. 8888, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3P8
Adam A. Ali
Affiliation:
Centre for Bio-Archeology and Ecology, Université Montpellier 2, Institut de Botanique, 163 rue Auguste Broussonet, 34090, Montpellier, France NSERC–UQAT–UQAM Industrial Chair in Sustainable Forest Management, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 boulevard de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada J9X 5E4
Yves Bergeron
Affiliation:
NSERC–UQAT–UQAM Industrial Chair in Sustainable Forest Management, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 boulevard de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada J9X 5E4
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 514 987 3635. Email Address:[email protected]
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Abstract

Wildfire is an important factor on carbon sequestration in the North American boreal biomes. Being globally important stocks of organic carbon, peatlands may be less sensitive to burning in comparison with upland forests, especially wet unforested ombrotrophic ecosystems as found in northeastern Canada. We aimed to determine if peatland fires have driven carbon accumulation patterns during the Holocene. To cover spatial variability, six cores from three peatlands in the Eastmain region of Quebec were analyzed for stratigraphic charcoal accumulation. Results show that regional Holocene peatland fire frequency was ~ 2.4 fires 1000 yr− 1, showing a gradually declining trend since 4000 cal yr BP, although inter- and intra-peatland variability was very high. Charcoal peak magnitudes, however, were significantly higher between 1400 and 400 cal yr BP, possibly reflecting higher charcoal production driven by differential climatic forcing aspects. Carbon accumulation rates generally declined towards the late-Holocene with minimum values of ~ 10 g m− 2 yr− 1 around 1500 cal yr BP. The absence of a clear correlation between peatland fire regimes and carbon accumulation indicates that fire regimes have not been a driving factor on carbon sequestration at the millennial time scale.

Keywords

PeatQuebecCharcoal analysisNeoglacialBogAccumulationCharAnalysisThreshold
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , July 2012 , pp. 50 - 59
Copyright
University of Washington

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