Gaseous carbon flux (methane, carbon dioxide) and associated environmental data from northern Minnesota peatlands

Rewetting drained peatlands shows promise for reducing or reversing carbon loss from drained peatlands. However, knowledge gaps remain in the impact of rewetting on carbon flux and factors affecting rewetting success, especially at the regional scale in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, USA, despite abundant degraded peatlands that present restoration opportunities. These data sets were collected as part of a study to identify differences in gaseous carbon flux between a drained and restored peatland and to identify environmental drivers of gaseous carbon fluxes. We used chamber-based methods to measure methane (CH4) flux, ecosystem respiration (Reco), and net carbon dioxide (CO2)¬ exchange (NEE) as well as environmental variables hypothesized to drive these fluxes at drained and rewetted peatland sites in northern Minnesota. In addition to soil gas flux measurements, the data also include measurements of open water methane fluxes from within drainage ditches. We used a model comparison approach with linear mixed effects models to predict gaseous carbon fluxes and identify their drivers.