abstract
- This study aimed to obtain carbon fluxes in the Zoige peatlands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the contemporary (recent years) and modern era (recent decades) and ancient times (during the Holocene or even longer) using flux tower and modeling approaches. The goal was to understand the carbon fate of alpine peatlands under climate change. Time-weighted average net carbon balance (g C m−2 yr−1) of Zoige peatlands was 189.3 ± 33.0 in the contemporary era, 80.6 ± 13.5 in the modern era and 33.5 ± 5.5 during the Holocene. Historical net carbon balance on these peatlands showed a ladder pattern. The observed carbon accumulation rate was 117.2 ± 14.2 g C m−2 yr−1 over the past 50 years and 94.3 ± 12.3 g C m−2 yr−1 over the past 100 years, which were nearly three times the rate of 36.6 ± 4.3 g C m−2 yr−1 over the long term, even though they had spatial discrepancy due to limited data. Our results indicated variable climatic factors may influence net carbon balance to some extent, and the primary determinant was temperature in the contemporary era, water table in the modern era and temperature in the Holocene, probably.