CANDYbog
Project description
In the CANDYbog project, material flows are being investigated on various spatial and temporal scales in southern Patagoan peatlands. The aim of the project is to quantify the carbon, nutrient and water budgets of two different types of peatlands occurring on Tierra del Fuego, and to better understand the key processes controlling the nutrient and carbon dynamics of these peatlands. In addition to the peat moss bogs, which are also typical of the northern hemisphere, there are also bogs in southern Patagonia dominated by cushion-forming vascular plants. It is not yet known which conditions lead to the preferential formation of cushion plant bogs. Often the spread of vascular plants is also linked to the displacement of peat mosses. Whether these peatlands of different vegetation composition also differ in their potential to store carbon in the long term is to be clarified. In addition, the southern Patagonian peat moss bogs can be seen as a model for undisturbed bog ecosystems of the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. In comparison, for example, with degraded North German raised bogs, an estimate of the anthropogenic influence, especially on the carbon sink function of such disturbed ecosystems, can thus be made.
The experimental work in the field focuses on a fertilisation and shading experiment in order to gain detailed insights into the nutrient dynamics, biomass production and peat decomposition of the two types of peatlands. Subsequent laboratory investigations include, for example, stable isotope analysis, incubation experiments or spectroscopic measurements. The eddy covariance method, gas bonnets and ecophysiological leaf chamber systems are used to measure, balance and compare the fluxes of energy, carbon and water between peatland ecosystems and the atmosphere at different spatial scales. In addition, the fluxes of dissolved and particulate organic matter are quantified using hydrological methods. The current carbon balances determined in this way are finally compared with the longer-term carbon fixation determined by analysing peat profiles.
Cooperation partners
- Universität Münster, Institute of Landscape Ecology, Working Groups Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research as well as Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry, PD Dr. Till Kleinebecker, Prof. Dr. Christian Blodau, Dr. Wiebke Schuster
- Universität Hamburg, Institute of Soil Science, Working Group Soils in the Climate System, Prof. Dr. Lars Kutzbach, Dr. David Holl
- Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC), Ushuaia, Argentina, Dr. Verónica Pancotto, Noelia Paredes, Mauro Navarro
- Radboud Universität Nijmegen, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Experimental Plant Ecology, Dr. Christian Fritz
Employees at the Institute of Soil Science
- Professor for soils in the climate system: Prof. Dr. Lars Kutzbach
- Scientist: Dr. David Holl
- Duration: 09.2013 - 04.2019
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Lars Kutzbach
- Sponsor: DFG