Recent climate change has driven divergent hydrological shifts in high-latitude peatlands

Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 24;13(1):4959. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32711-4.

Abstract

High-latitude peatlands are changing rapidly in response to climate change, including permafrost thaw. Here, we reconstruct hydrological conditions since the seventeenth century using testate amoeba data from 103 high-latitude peat archives. We show that 54% of the peatlands have been drying and 32% have been wetting over this period, illustrating the complex ecohydrological dynamics of high latitude peatlands and their highly uncertain responses to a warming climate.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amoeba*
  • Climate Change
  • Hydrology
  • Permafrost*
  • Soil

Substances

  • Soil