Modeling carbon accumulation and greenhouse gas emissions of northern peatlands since the Holocene

<p>Northern peatlands are a large C stock and often act as a C sink, but are susceptible to climate warming. To understand the role of peatlands in the global carbon-climate feedback, it is necessary to accurately quantify their C stock changes and decomposition. In this study, a process-based model, the Peatland Terrestrial Ecosystem Model, is used to simulate pan-Arctic peatland C dynamics from 15ka BP to 1990. To improve the accuracy of the simulation, grid-specific water run-on and run-off processes were considered, four different pan-Arctic peatland distribution datasets were used, and a spatially-explicit peat basal date dataset was developed using a neural network approach. The model was calibrated against 2055 peat thickness observations and the parameters were interpolated to the pan-Arctic region. Using the model, we estimate that, in 1990, the pan-Arctic peatlands soil C stock is 396-421 Pg C, and the Holocene average C accumulation rate was 22.9 g C∙m<sup>-2</sup> yr<sup>-1</sup>. Our estimated peat permafrost development history generally agrees with multi-proxy-based paleo-climate datasets and core-derived permafrost areal dynamics. During 500 BP to 1990, the pan-Arctic region went through the Little Ice Age and Anthropocene warming. Under Anthropocene warming, in the freeze-thaw and permafrost-free regions, the peat C accumulation rate decreased, but it increased in permafrost regions. The project's outcome helps understanding the potential peatland responses to future climate changes.</p>