IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i9p1768-d1238293.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Peat Formation in Rewetted Fens as Reflected by Saturated n -Alkyl Acid Concentrations and Patterns

Author

Listed:
  • Gerald Jandl

    (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Soil Science, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany)

  • Wakene Negassa

    (The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK)

  • Kai-Uwe Eckhardt

    (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Soil Science, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany)

  • Peter Leinweber

    (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Soil Science, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

The conversion of cultivated fen peat soils into rewetted soils can mitigate global climate change. Specifically, carbon in newly formed peat can store atmospheric CO 2 for a long time in soil, but alterations in the quality of soil organic matter are not well known. To shed light on the complex processes of peat degradation or new formation under dry or rewetting conditions, we investigated and quantified saturated n -alkyl acids as an indicator compound class of peatlands response to the contrasting management practices. The concentrations of saturated n -alkyl acids from two soil layers of the drained and rewetted were determined in two soil layers of drained and rewetted fenland types such as Alder Carr forest, coastal peatland, and percolation mire. The analytical methods were solvent extraction, methylation with tetramethylammonium hydroxide, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The saturated n -alkyl acid distribution pattern showed that the concentrations of long C-chain lengths were larger by factors of up to 28 relative to the short C-chain lengths. The effect of rewetting was reflected by the ratios of the summed concentrations of long ( n -C 21:0 to n -C 34:0 ) to short ( n -C 10:0 to n -C 20:0 ) C-chain saturated n -alkyl acids for drained and rewetted peat soil samples. These ratios were consistently lower in samples from the rewetted sites, indicating a higher input of microbial bio- and necromass to soil organic matter, likely from algae and anaerobic bacteria, under rewetting. The results suggest that the enrichment of microbial biomass and necromass in rewetted soils may be an important contributor to the formation of new peat in fenlands, irrespective of fenland type.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerald Jandl & Wakene Negassa & Kai-Uwe Eckhardt & Peter Leinweber, 2023. "Peat Formation in Rewetted Fens as Reflected by Saturated n -Alkyl Acid Concentrations and Patterns," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:9:p:1768-:d:1238293
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1768/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1768/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. R. Lal, 2007. "Carbon Management in Agricultural Soils," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 303-322, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giedrius Dabašinskas & Gintarė Sujetovienė, 2024. "Spatial and Temporal Changes in Supply and Demand for Ecosystem Services in Response to Urbanization: A Case Study in Vilnius, Lithuania," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Xiaochen Liu & Shuai Wang & Qianlai Zhuang & Xinxin Jin & Zhenxing Bian & Mingyi Zhou & Zhuo Meng & Chunlan Han & Xiaoyu Guo & Wenjuan Jin & Yufei Zhang, 2022. "A Review on Carbon Source and Sink in Arable Land Ecosystems," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Timothy Capon & Michael Harris & Andrew Reeson, 2013. "The Design of Markets for Soil Carbon Sequestration," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 32(2), pages 161-173, June.
    4. Ismail Abd-Elaty & Hanan Shoshah & Martina Zeleňáková & Nand Lal Kushwaha & Osama W. El-Dean, 2022. "Forecasting of Flash Floods Peak Flow for Environmental Hazards and Water Harvesting in Desert Area of El-Qaa Plain, Sinai," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Zhang, Guo & Wang, Xiaoke & Sun, Binfeng & Zhao, Hong & Lu, Fei & Zhang, Lu, 2016. "Status of mineral nitrogen fertilization and net mitigation potential of the state fertilization recommendation in Chinese cropland," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1-10.
    6. Lakshmanan Muralikrishnan & Rabindra N. Padaria & Anil K. Choudhary & Anchal Dass & Shadi Shokralla & Tarek K. Zin El-Abedin & Shadi A. M. Abdelmohsen & Eman A. Mahmoud & Hosam O. Elansary, 2021. "Climate Change-Induced Drought Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Measures in Semi-Arid Pastoral and Agricultural Watersheds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Martina Lori & Sarah Symnaczik & Paul Mäder & Gerlinde De Deyn & Andreas Gattinger, 2017. "Organic farming enhances soil microbial abundance and activity—A meta-analysis and meta-regression," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-25, July.
    8. Yamei Wang & Shuhe Zhao & Wenting Cai & Joon Heo & Fanchen Peng, 2019. "A Sensitive Band to Optimize Winter Wheat Crop Residue Cover Estimation by Eliminating Moisture Effect," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Xiangcheng Ma & Mengfan Lv & Fangyuan Huang & Peng Zhang & Tie Cai & Zhikuan Jia, 2022. "Effects of Biochar Application on Soil Hydrothermal Environment, Carbon Emissions, and Crop Yield in Wheat Fields under Ridge–Furrow Rainwater Harvesting Planting Mode," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, October.
    10. Zhanjun Xu & Yuan Zhang & Jason Yang & Fenwu Liu & Rutian Bi & Hongfen Zhu & Chunjuan Lv & Jian Yu, 2019. "Effect of Underground Coal Mining on the Regional Soil Organic Carbon Pool in Farmland in a Mining Subsidence Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-19, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:9:p:1768-:d:1238293. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.