Peatlands and Global Carbon Cycle Modeling

Peatlands cover 3–5% of the global land surface, contain about 20% of all terrestrial organic carbon, and contribute significantly to total biogenic methane emissions to the atmosphere. More than one third of northern peatlands contain permafrost. Northern peatlands are likely to experience the consequences of climate warming earlier, more rapidly, and to a greater degree than many of the Earth\u27s other major ecosystems. To map out how peatlands could be incorporated into global-scale coupled climate-carbon models and to determine what research and model development would be needed to overcome major obstacles, 17 scientists with expertise in peatland ecology, biogeochemistry and vegetation modeling, and global-scale coupled climate-carbon modeling participated in a workshop organized by the U.S. National Science Foundationsponsored PeatNet (http://www.peatnet.siu.edu/)