Species-specific temporal variation in photosynthesis as a moderator of peatland carbon sequestration

In boreal bogs plant species are low in number, but they differ greatly in their growth forms and photosynthetic properties. We assessed how ecosystem carbon (C) sink dynamics were affected by seasonal variations in the photosynthetic rate and leaf area of different species. Photosynthetic properties (light response parameters), leaf area development and areal cover (abundance) of the species were used to quantify species-specific net and gross photosynthesis rates (P-N and P-G, respectively), which were summed to express ecosystem-level P-N and P-G. The ecosystem-level P-G was compared with a gross primary production (GPP) estimate derived from eddy covariance (EC) measurements. Species areal cover, rather than differences in photosynthetic properties, determined the species with the highest P-G of both vascular plants and Sphagna. Species-specific contributions to the ecosystem P-G varied over the growing season, which, in turn, determined the seasonal variation in ecosystem P-G. The upscaled growing season P-G estimate, 230 gCm (-2), agreed well with the GPP estimated by the EC (243 gCm (-2)). Sphagna were superior to vascular plants in ecosystemlevel P-G throughout the growing season but had a lower P-N. P-N results indicated that areal cover of the species, together with their differences in photosynthetic parameters, shape the ecosystem-level C balance. Species with low areal cover but high photosynthetic efficiency appear to be potentially important for the ecosystem C sink. Results imply that func-tional diversity, i. e., the presence of plant groups with different seasonal timing and efficiency of photosynthesis, may increase the stability of C sinks of boreal bogs.Peer reviewe