Simulation of CO₂ and attribution analysis at six European peatland sites using the ECOSSE model

Abstract In this study, we simulated heterotrophic CO2(Rh) fluxes at six European peatland sites using the ECOSSE model and compared them to estimates of Rh made from eddy covariance (EC) measurements. The sites are spread over four countries with different climates, vegetation and management. Annual Rh from the different sites ranged from 110 to 540 g C m−2. The maximum annual Rh occurred when the water table (WT) level was between −10 and −25 cm and the temperature was above 6.2 °C. The model successfully simulated seasonal trends for the majority of the sites. Regression relationships (r2) between the EC-derived and simulated Rh ranged from 0.28 to 0.76, and the root mean square error and relative error were small