##  [The Impact of a Black Spruce (Picea mariana) Plantation on Carbon Exchange in a Cutover Peatland in Western Canada](/resource/impact-black-spruce-picea-mariana-plantation-carbon-exchange-cutover-peatland-western-0) 

Organization

[University of Calgary (UofC)](/organization/university-calgary-uofc)

[Laval University](/organization/laval-university)

[University of Waterloo](/organization/university-waterloo)

 

 

Resource Type

[Peer reviewed article](/taxonomy/term/37)

 

 

Author(s)

Tania Garcia Bravo

Line Rochefort

Maria Strack

 

 

Original Authors

Tania Garcia Bravo

Line Rochefort

Maria Strack

 

 

Contacts

[Tania Garcia Bravo](/contact/tania-garcia-bravo)

 

 

Resource Date:

January

2018

 

 

*This resource is available on an external database and may require a paid subscription to access it. It is included on the CCLM to support our goal of capturing and sharing the breadth of all available knowledge pertaining to Boreal Caribou, Wetlands, and Land Management.*

Northern peatlands are sinks for atmospheric carbon (C), but peat extraction converts these ecosystems to C sources. Due to a dry regional climate, undisturbed bog peatlands in western Canada often have a tree cover of *Picea mariana* (Mill.) B.S.P. Thus, a coniferous forest plantation may be an appropriate land use for cutover peatlands. This study determined the effect of a 7-year-old *P*. *mariana* plantation on C balance of a cutover peatland. We measured C stored in *P*. *mariana* biomass and carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes from bare peat at each of four fertilizer doses. Carbon stored in biomass of *Betula papyrifera* (Marsh.) that had spontaneously colonized the postfertilized site was also determined. Given that the water table remained very deep and that the sphagnum moss – ericaceous shrub peat-accumulating vegetation was not present, the site remained a source of C when only the planted *P*. *mariana* trees were considered, primarily in the form of CO2 emissions by soil respiration. However, C accumulation in trees, including *B*. *papyrifera* biomass, resulted in a net C sink in fertilized plots. Results from this study indicate that tree plantations on cutover peatland may be a suitable land-management strategy on sites difficult to effectively rewet.