##  [Increasing Contributions of Peatlands to Boreal Evapotranspiration in a Warming Climate](/resource/increasing-contributions-peatlands-boreal-evapotranspiration-warming-climate) 

Organization

[Carleton University](/organization/carleton-university)

[Dalhousie University](/organization/dalhousie-university)

[Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)](/organization/environment-and-climate-change-canada-eccc)

[Finnish Meteorological Institute](/organization/finnish-meteorological-institute)

[Harvard University](/organization/harvard-university)

[Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences National Agriculture and Food Research Organization](/organization/institute-agro-environmental-sciences-national-agriculture-and-food-research)

[Lund University](/organization/lund-university)

[Marine Biological Laboratory](/organization/marine-biological-laboratory)

[McGill University](/organization/mcgill-university)

[McMaster University](/organization/mcmaster-university)

[Michigan State University](/organization/michigan-state-university)

[Osaka Prefecture University](/organization/osaka-prefecture-university)

[Russian Academy of Science](/organization/russian-academy-science)

[Shinshu University](/organization/shinshu-university)

[Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences](/organization/swedish-university-agricultural-sciences)

[University of Alaska Fairbanks](/organization/university-alaska-fairbanks)

[University of Arkansas](/organization/university-arkansas)

[University of British Columbia (UBC)](/organization/university-british-columbia-ubc)

[University of Colorado](/organization/university-colorado)

[University of Copenhagen](/organization/university-copenhagen)

[University of Eastern Finland](/organization/university-eastern-finland)

[University of Greifswald](/organization/university-greifswald)

[University of Hamburg](/organization/university-hamburg)

[University of Helsinki](/organization/university-helsinki)

[University of Lethbridge (UofL)](/organization/university-lethbridge-uofl)

[University of Montreal](/organization/university-montreal)

[Wilfrid Laurier University](/organization/wilfrid-laurier-university)

[Worcester State University](/organization/worcester-state-university)

 

 

Resource Type

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

 

 

Author(s)

Achim Grelle

Alan Barr

Allison Dunn

Anatoly Prokushkin

Anders Lindroth

Andrej Varlagin

Andrew Black

Ankur Desai

Annalea Lohila

Benjamin Runkle

Brian Amiro

Daniel Nadeau

David Reed

Eeva‐Stiina Tuittila

Elyn Humphreys

Erin Nicholls

Eugenie Euskirchen

Hiroki Ikawa

Hiroki Iwata

Ian Strachan

Inke Forbrich

Ivan Mammarella

James Waddington

Jessica Turner

Jinshu Chi

Jiquan Chen

Joe Melton

Juha-Pekka Tuovinen

Juliya Kurbatova

Lars Kutzbach

Lawrence Flanagan

Manuel Helbig

Martin Wilmking

Masahito Ueyama

Mats Nilsson

Matthias Peichl

Michal Heliasz

Mika Aurela

Mika Korkiakoski

Mikaell Ottosson Lofvenius

Nigel Roulet

Oliver Sonnentag

Paul Moore

Pavel Alekseychik

Peter Blanken

Philip Marsh

Pierre Taillardat

Pierre-Erik Isabelle

Rachhpal Jassal

Richard Petrone

Roman Petrov

Sean Carey

Silvie Harder

Steven Wofsy

Takeshi Ohta

Thomas Friborg

Trofim Maximov

Vyacheslav Zyrianov

William Quinton

 

 

Original Authors

Manuel Helbig

James Waddington

Pavel Alekseychik

Brian Amiro

Mika Aurela

Alan Barr

Andrew Black

Peter Blanken

Sean Carey

Jiquan Chen

Jinshu Chi

Ankur Desai

Allison Dunn

Eugenie Euskirchen

Lawrence Flanagan

Inke Forbrich

Thomas Friborg

Achim Grelle

Silvie Harder

Michal Heliasz

Elyn Humphreys

Hiroki Lkawa

Pierre-Erik Isabelle

Hiroki Iwata

Rachhpal Jassal

Mika Korkiakoski

Juliya Kurbatova

Lars Kutzbach

Anders Lindroth

Mikaell Ottosson Lofvenius

Annalea Lohila

Ivan Mammarella

Philip Marsh

Trofim Maximov

Joe Melton

Paul Moore

Daniel Nadeau

Erin Nicholls

Mats Nilsson

Takeshi Ohta

Matthias Peichl

Richard Petrone

Roman Petrov

Anatoly Prokushkin

William Quinton

David Reed

Nigel Roulet

Benjamin Runkle

Oliver Sonnentag

Ian Stachan

Pierre Taillardat

Eeva-Stiina Tuittila

Juha-Pekka Tuovinen

Jessica Turner

Masahito Ueyama

Andrej Varlagin

Martin Wilmking

Steven Wofsy

Vyacheslav Zyianov

 

 

Resource Date:

June

2020

 

 

The response of evapotranspiration (ET) to warming is of critical importance to the water and carbon cycle of the boreal biome, a mosaic of land cover types dominated by forests and peatlands. The effect of warming-induced vapour pressure deficit (VPD) increases on boreal ET remains poorly understood because peatlands are not specifically represented as plant functional types in Earth system models. Here we show that peatland ET increases more than forest ET with increasing VPD using observations from 95 eddy covariance tower sites. At high VPD of more than 2 kPa, peatland ET exceeds forest ET by up to 30%. Future (2091–2100) mid-growing season peatland ET is estimated to exceed forest ET by over 20% in about one-third of the boreal biome for RCP4.5 and about two-thirds for RCP8.5. Peatland-specific ET responses to VPD should therefore be included in Earth system models to avoid biases in water and carbon cycle projections