Carbon dioxide and methane dynamics in a sub-Arctic peatland in northern Finland

We studied carbon dynamics on various surface parts of a highly patterned fen, typical in northern Finland, to examine the importance of different microsites to the areal carbon fluxes. The studies were carried out in June-September 1995 on a mesotrophic flark fen (an aapa mire) in Kaamanen (69°08?N, 27° 17?E). Wet flarks, moist lawns and dry strings accounted for 60%, 10% and 30% of the surface area, respectively. A static chamber technique was applied to measure the CH4 exchange, the instantaneous net ecosystem exchange (NEE, transparent chamber) and the ecosystem respiration (Rtot? opaque chamber) in several microsites. The static chamber results were compared with those obtained by the eddy covariance technique. The mean daytime areal net ecosystem CO2 exchange rate measurement in conditions where photosynthesis was light saturated (PAR>400 ?mol m-2 s-1) varied during the measurement period from ?59 mg CO2-C m?2h?1 (release) to 250 (uptake). The mean CH4 emission during the measuring period was 78 mg CH4-Cm?2 d?1 on the flarks, 68 mg on the lawn and 6.0 mg on the strings. The strings without shrubs (mainly Betula nana) were in general net sources of CO2, even during the middle of the growing season, whereas the lawns, flarks and also strings growing B. nana showed a daytime net uptake of CO2. Areally integrated chamber results showed lower CO2 and higher CH4 fluxes than predicted from the eddy covariance measurements