Sedge succession and peatland methane dynamics: A potential feedback to climate change

Under the warmer climate, predicted for the fu-ture, northern peatlands are expected to become drier. This drying will lower the water table and likely result in reduced emissions of methane (CH4) from these ecosystems. However, the pre-diction of declining CH4 fluxes does not consider the potential effects of ecological succession, par-ticularly the invasion of sedges into currently wet sites (open water pools, low lawns). The goal of this study was to characterize the relationship be-tween the presence of sedges in peatlands and CH4 efflux under natural conditions and under a cli-mate change simulation (drained peatland). Methane fluxes, gross ecosystem production, and dissolved pore water CH4 concentrations were measured and a vegetation survey was conducted in a natural and drained peatland near St. Charles