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Increasing contribution of peatlands to boreal evapotranspiration in a warming climate

Author

Listed:
  • Manuel Helbig

    (McMaster University
    Dalhousie University)

  • James Michael Waddington

    (McMaster University)

  • Pavel Alekseychik

    (University of Helsinki
    Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE))

  • Brian D. Amiro

    (University of Manitoba)

  • Mika Aurela

    (Finnish Meteorological Institute)

  • Alan G. Barr

    (Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada
    University of Saskatchewan)

  • T. Andrew Black

    (The University of British Columbia)

  • Peter D. Blanken

    (University of Colorado)

  • Sean K. Carey

    (McMaster University)

  • Jiquan Chen

    (Michigan State University)

  • Jinshu Chi

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Ankur R. Desai

    (University of Wisconsin–Madison)

  • Allison Dunn

    (Worcester State University)

  • Eugenie S. Euskirchen

    (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

  • Lawrence B. Flanagan

    (University of Lethbridge)

  • Inke Forbrich

    (Marine Biological Laboratory)

  • Thomas Friborg

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Achim Grelle

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Silvie Harder

    (McGill University)

  • Michal Heliasz

    (Lund University)

  • Elyn R. Humphreys

    (Carleton University)

  • Hiroki Ikawa

    (Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences National Agriculture and Food Research Organization)

  • Pierre-Erik Isabelle

    (Université Laval)

  • Hiroki Iwata

    (Shinshu University)

  • Rachhpal Jassal

    (The University of British Columbia)

  • Mika Korkiakoski

    (Finnish Meteorological Institute)

  • Juliya Kurbatova

    (A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences)

  • Lars Kutzbach

    (Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg)

  • Anders Lindroth

    (Lund University)

  • Mikaell Ottosson Löfvenius

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Annalea Lohila

    (University of Helsinki
    Finnish Meteorological Institute)

  • Ivan Mammarella

    (University of Helsinki)

  • Philip Marsh

    (Wilfrid Laurier University)

  • Trofim Maximov

    (Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

  • Joe R. Melton

    (Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada)

  • Paul A. Moore

    (McMaster University)

  • Daniel F. Nadeau

    (Université Laval)

  • Erin M. Nicholls

    (McMaster University)

  • Mats B. Nilsson

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Takeshi Ohta

    (Nagoya University)

  • Matthias Peichl

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Richard M. Petrone

    (University of Waterloo)

  • Roman Petrov

    (Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

  • Anatoly Prokushkin

    (V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

  • William L. Quinton

    (Wilfrid Laurier University)

  • David E. Reed

    (Michigan State University)

  • Nigel T. Roulet

    (McGill University)

  • Benjamin R. K. Runkle

    (Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg
    University of Arkansas)

  • Oliver Sonnentag

    (Université de Montréal)

  • Ian B. Strachan

    (McGill University)

  • Pierre Taillardat

    (Université du Québec à Montréal—Geotop)

  • Eeva-Stiina Tuittila

    (University of Eastern Finland)

  • Juha-Pekka Tuovinen

    (Finnish Meteorological Institute)

  • Jessica Turner

    (University of Wisconsin–Madison)

  • Masahito Ueyama

    (Osaka Prefecture University)

  • Andrej Varlagin

    (A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences)

  • Martin Wilmking

    (University of Greifswald)

  • Steven C. Wofsy

    (Harvard University)

  • Vyacheslav Zyrianov

    (V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

The response of evapotranspiration (ET) to warming is of critical importance to the water and carbon cycle of the boreal biome, a mosaic of land cover types dominated by forests and peatlands. The effect of warming-induced vapour pressure deficit (VPD) increases on boreal ET remains poorly understood because peatlands are not specifically represented as plant functional types in Earth system models. Here we show that peatland ET increases more than forest ET with increasing VPD using observations from 95 eddy covariance tower sites. At high VPD of more than 2 kPa, peatland ET exceeds forest ET by up to 30%. Future (2091–2100) mid-growing season peatland ET is estimated to exceed forest ET by over 20% in about one-third of the boreal biome for RCP4.5 and about two-thirds for RCP8.5. Peatland-specific ET responses to VPD should therefore be included in Earth system models to avoid biases in water and carbon cycle projections.

Suggested Citation

  • Manuel Helbig & James Michael Waddington & Pavel Alekseychik & Brian D. Amiro & Mika Aurela & Alan G. Barr & T. Andrew Black & Peter D. Blanken & Sean K. Carey & Jiquan Chen & Jinshu Chi & Ankur R. De, 2020. "Increasing contribution of peatlands to boreal evapotranspiration in a warming climate," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 10(6), pages 555-560, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:10:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1038_s41558-020-0763-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0763-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Ning Chen & Yifei Zhang & Fenghui Yuan & Changchun Song & Mingjie Xu & Qingwei Wang & Guangyou Hao & Tao Bao & Yunjiang Zuo & Jianzhao Liu & Tao Zhang & Yanyu Song & Li Sun & Yuedong Guo & Hao Zhang &, 2023. "Warming-induced vapor pressure deficit suppression of vegetation growth diminished in northern peatlands," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Zhu, Wenbin & Yu, Xiaoyu & Wei, Jiaxing & Lv, Aifeng, 2024. "Surface flux equilibrium estimates of evaporative fraction and evapotranspiration at global scale: Accuracy evaluation and performance comparison," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    3. Hu, Zhaoyong & Wang, Genxu & Sun, Xiangyang & Huang, Kewei & Song, Chunlin & Li, Yang & Sun, Shouqin & Sun, Juying & Lin, Shan, 2024. "Biological factor controls the variations in water use efficiency of an alpine meadow during the growing season in a permafrost region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    4. Jacqueline Oehri & Gabriela Schaepman-Strub & Jin-Soo Kim & Raleigh Grysko & Heather Kropp & Inge Grünberg & Vitalii Zemlianskii & Oliver Sonnentag & Eugénie S. Euskirchen & Merin Reji Chacko & Giovan, 2022. "Vegetation type is an important predictor of the arctic summer land surface energy budget," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Yao, Yuxia & Liao, Xingliang & Xiao, Junlan & He, Qiulan & Shi, Weiyu, 2023. "The sensitivity of maize evapotranspiration to vapor pressure deficit and soil moisture with lagged effects under extreme drought in Southwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

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