Articles | Volume 16, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-891-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-891-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 Jun 2025
Research article |
| 26 Jun 2025
| 26 Jun 2025
Peat oxic and anoxic controls of Sphagnum decomposition rates in the Holocene Peatland Model decomposition module estimated from litterbag data
Henning Teickner
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Ecohydrology & Biogeochemistry Group, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany
Spatiotemporal Modelling Lab, Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany
Edzer Pebesma
Spatiotemporal Modelling Lab, Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany
Klaus-Holger Knorr
Ecohydrology & Biogeochemistry Group, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany
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Decomposition rates for Sphagnum mosses, the main peat-forming plants in northern peatlands, are often derived from litterbag experiments. Here, we estimate initial leaching losses from available Sphagnum litterbag experiments and analyze how decomposition rates are biased when initial leaching losses are ignored. Our analyses indicate that initial leaching losses range between 3 to 18 mass-% and that this may result in overestimated mass losses when extrapolated to several decades.
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Decomposition rates for Sphagnum mosses, the main peat-forming plants in northern peatlands, are often derived from litterbag experiments. Here, we estimate initial leaching losses from available Sphagnum litterbag experiments and analyze how decomposition rates are biased when initial leaching losses are ignored. Our analyses indicate that initial leaching losses range between 3 to 18 mass-% and that this may result in overestimated mass losses when extrapolated to several decades.
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Biogeosciences, 20, 4893–4914, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4893-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4893-2023, 2023
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Peatlands are vital terrestrial ecosystems that can serve as archives, preserving records of past vegetation and climate. We reconstructed the vegetation history over the last 2600 years of the Beerberg peatland and surrounding area in the Thuringian Forest in Germany using multiple analyses. We found that, although the forest composition transitioned and human influence increased, the peatland remained relatively stable until more recent times, when drainage and dust deposition had an impact.
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Biogeosciences, 20, 737–751, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-737-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-737-2023, 2023
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We determine the effect that duration of extraction has on CO2 and CH4 emissions from an actively extracted peatland. Peat fields had high net C emissions in the first years after opening, and these then declined to half the initial value for several decades. Findings contribute to knowledge on the atmospheric burden that results from these activities and are of use to industry in their life cycle reporting and government agencies responsible for greenhouse gas accounting and policy.
Matthias Koschorreck, Klaus Holger Knorr, and Lelaina Teichert
Biogeosciences, 19, 5221–5236, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5221-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5221-2022, 2022
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At low water levels, parts of the bottom of rivers fall dry. These beaches or mudflats emit the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. We found that those emissions are caused by microbial reactions in the sediment and that they change with time. Emissions were influenced by many factors like temperature, water level, rain, plants, and light.
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SOIL, 8, 699–715, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-699-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-699-2022, 2022
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The chemical quality of biomass can be described with holocellulose (relatively easily decomposable by microorganisms) and Klason lignin (relatively recalcitrant) contents. Measuring both is laborious. In a recent study, models have been proposed which can predict both quicker from mid-infrared spectra. However, it has not been analyzed if these models make correct predictions for biomass in soils and how to improve them. We provide such a validation and a strategy for their improvement.
Cordula Nina Gutekunst, Susanne Liebner, Anna-Kathrina Jenner, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Viktoria Unger, Franziska Koebsch, Erwin Don Racasa, Sizhong Yang, Michael Ernst Böttcher, Manon Janssen, Jens Kallmeyer, Denise Otto, Iris Schmiedinger, Lucas Winski, and Gerald Jurasinski
Biogeosciences, 19, 3625–3648, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3625-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3625-2022, 2022
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Liam Heffernan, Maria A. Cavaco, Maya P. Bhatia, Cristian Estop-Aragonés, Klaus-Holger Knorr, and David Olefeldt
Biogeosciences, 19, 3051–3071, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3051-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3051-2022, 2022
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Permafrost thaw in peatlands leads to waterlogged conditions, a favourable environment for microbes producing methane (CH4) and high CH4 emissions. High CH4 emissions in the initial decades following thaw are due to a vegetation community that produces suitable organic matter to fuel CH4-producing microbes, along with warm and wet conditions. High CH4 emissions after thaw persist for up to 100 years, after which environmental conditions are less favourable for microbes and high CH4 emissions.
Ramona J. Heim, Andrey Yurtaev, Anna Bucharova, Wieland Heim, Valeriya Kutskir, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Christian Lampei, Alexandr Pechkin, Dora Schilling, Farid Sulkarnaev, and Norbert Hölzel
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Fires will probably increase in Arctic regions due to climate change. Yet, the long-term effects of tundra fires on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks and cycling are still unclear. We investigated the long-term fire effects on C and N stocks and cycling in soil and aboveground living biomass.
We found that tundra fires did not affect total C and N stocks because a major part of the stocks was located belowground in soils which were largely unaltered by fire.
M. Ludwig, J. Bahlmann, E. Pebesma, and H. Meyer
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Leandra Stephanie Emilia Praetzel, Nora Plenter, Sabrina Schilling, Marcel Schmiedeskamp, Gabriele Broll, and Klaus-Holger Knorr
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Wolfgang Knierzinger, Ruth Drescher-Schneider, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Simon Drollinger, Andreas Limbeck, Lukas Brunnbauer, Felix Horak, Daniela Festi, and Michael Wagreich
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 69, 121–137, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-121-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-121-2020, 2020
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A. Joshi, E. Pebesma, R. Henriques, and M. Appel
Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLII-5-W3, 43–47, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-5-W3-43-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-5-W3-43-2019, 2019
Wiebke Münchberger, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Christian Blodau, Verónica A. Pancotto, and Till Kleinebecker
Biogeosciences, 16, 541–559, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-541-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-541-2019, 2019
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Processes governing CH4 dynamics have been scarcely studied in southern hemispheric bogs. These can be dominated by cushion-forming plants with deep and dense roots suppressing emissions. Here we demonstrate how the spatial distribution of root activity drives a pronounced pattern of CH4 emissions, likewise also possible in densely rooted northern bogs. We conclude that presence of cushion vegetation as a proxy for negligible CH4 emissions from cushion bogs needs to be interpreted with caution.
Xi Wen, Viktoria Unger, Gerald Jurasinski, Franziska Koebsch, Fabian Horn, Gregor Rehder, Torsten Sachs, Dominik Zak, Gunnar Lischeid, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Michael E. Böttcher, Matthias Winkel, Paul L. E. Bodelier, and Susanne Liebner
Biogeosciences, 15, 6519–6536, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6519-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6519-2018, 2018
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Rewetting drained peatlands may lead to prolonged emission of the greenhouse gas methane, but the underlying factors are not well described. In this study, we found two rewetted fens with known high methane fluxes had a high ratio of microbial methane producers to methane consumers and a low abundance of methane consumers compared to pristine wetlands. We therefore suggest abundances of methane-cycling microbes as potential indicators for prolonged high methane emissions in rewetted peatlands.
Sergio Ibarra-Espinosa, Rita Ynoue, Shane O'Sullivan, Edzer Pebesma, María de Fátima Andrade, and Mauricio Osses
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2209–2229, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2209-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2209-2018, 2018
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An emissions inventory is a compilation of the mass of pollutants released by different sources. The quantification of vehicular emissions is difficult because these sources are in movement across streets. Also, emissions processes are multiple and complex. In this paper, we present an open-source software for calculating spatial vehicular emissions, including exhaust, evaporation and wear, named VEIN. The software is an R package available at
https://github.com/atmoschem/vein.
Sina Berger, Leandra S. E. Praetzel, Marie Goebel, Christian Blodau, and Klaus-Holger Knorr
Biogeosciences, 15, 885–903, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-885-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-885-2018, 2018
Tanja Broder, Klaus-Holger Knorr, and Harald Biester
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 2035–2051, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-2035-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-2035-2017, 2017
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This study elucidates controls on temporal variability in DOM concentration and quality in stream water draining a bog and a forested peaty riparian zone, particularly considering drought and storm flow events. DOM quality was monitored using spectrofluorometric indices (SUVA254, SR and FI) and PARAFAC modeling of EEMs. DOM quality depended clearly on hydrologic preconditions and season. Moreover, the forested peaty riparian zone generated most variability in headwater DOM quantity and quality.
H. Biester, K.-H. Knorr, J. Schellekens, A. Basler, and Y.-M. Hermanns
Biogeosciences, 11, 2691–2707, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2691-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2691-2014, 2014
S. Strohmeier, K.-H. Knorr, M. Reichert, S. Frei, J. H. Fleckenstein, S. Peiffer, and E. Matzner
Biogeosciences, 10, 905–916, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-905-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-905-2013, 2013
K.-H. Knorr
Biogeosciences, 10, 891–904, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-891-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-891-2013, 2013
C. Estop-Aragonés, K.-H. Knorr, and C. Blodau
Biogeosciences, 10, 421–436, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-421-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-421-2013, 2013
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Short summary
The Holocene Peatland Model (HPM) is a widely used peatland model to understand and predict long-term peatland dynamics. Here, we test whether the HPM can predict Sphagnum litterbag decomposition rates from oxic to anoxic conditions. Our results indicate that decomposition rates change more gradually from oxic to anoxic conditions and may be underestimated under anoxic conditions, possibly because the effect of water table fluctuations on decomposition rates is not considered.
The Holocene Peatland Model (HPM) is a widely used peatland model to understand and predict...
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