Peatlands trap carbon dioxide, even during droughts

Sphagnum flexuosum

Although peatlands make up only 3 percent of the Earth’s surface, they store one third of the soil carbon trapped in soils globally. Preserving peatlands is therefore of paramount importance for mitigating climate change, provided that these vulnerable environments are not themselves threatened by global warming.

To better determine this risk, two French scientists, including Vincent Jassey, a CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire Ecologie Fontionnelle et Environnement (CNRS/Université Toulouse III—Paul Sabatier/INP Toulouse), studied carbon uptake by the two main species of moss that make up the Le Forbonnet peatland in Frasne (Jura). They discovered that when temperatures were high and also during droughts, the two Sphagnum species behaved in opposite ways: Sphagnum medium resists drought, whereas the photosynthesis of Sphagnum fallax is negatively impacted; conversely, in very hot but humid weather, photosynthesis, and thus carbon uptake, in Sphagnum fallax increases, whereas there is a negligible effect on photosynthesis in Sphagnum medium. In both cases, then, the peatland survives.

These results show that peatlands can withstand future climate change, provided they are not disturbed. Making peatland conservation a priority would therefore help to limit the impacts of climate change in the future. The study was published on September 9, 2019 in Global Change Biology.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AquaPonics: latest environmental and climate friendly way of gardening

Image
Aquaponic is a combination of two words, Aqua – water and Ponics-Farm in a box. “Aquaponics an environmentally-friendly, natural food growing method to facilitate the cultivation of fish and plants together in a constructed, re-circulating ecosystem utilizing natural bacterial cycles to convert fish wastes to plant nutrients. “So it is also called as recirculation farming. Recirculation farms are a socially responsible farming method and business too; they support the use of renewable energy, recycle water and waste, and provide local food. Aquaponic systems are much more productive and use up to 90 percent less water than conventional gardens. Other advantages include no weeds, fewer pests, and no watering, fertilizing, bending, digging or heavy lifting etc. there are different types of aquaponic like Media Bed - (using a substance such as lave rocks or other medium other than soil for raising plants and bacteria) Raft - (using foam boards with cut outs to place planter pots floati...
Read more

Nipah Virus infection is zoonosis, chicken are also indirectly involve

Image
Now a days various messages on social media warns Pakistani nation to avoid chicken consumption, because its source of Nipah virus, In Pakistan production of poultry products is very high to fulfill the consumption requirements. For Layman it is confusing and  debatable either chicken is source of Nipah virus or not, mostly said no its fake news, chicken is safe its not the cause of spread, other said avoid the chicken consumption because, prevention is better than cure. Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both humans and animals. "Zoonosis means a disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals". Nipah virus was first identified in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998. The pigs were the intermediate hosts during that outbreak. Around 1.1 million pigs had to be killed to control the outbreak. However, it is not necessary to have an intermediate host during Nipah Virus outbreak. The natural host of ...
Read more

Precautionary measurements in the event of an earthquake-by-Naseem Sheikh

Image
Here are some of the precautions that can be taken to minimize the potential loss of execution. With these measures and premature awareness, we can prevent earthquake damage. [caption id="attachment_media-133" align="aligncenter" width="289"] Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com [/caption] Control your senses if you feel an earthquake. Instead of panicking, jumping from the top floor and screaming without panic, they can easily get out of the building so it is better to stay where they are. Cover your head with your hands with both hands, and sit down in a corner instead of the middle of the room. If there is a strong table or bed, seek shelter under it. If no heavy furniture is nearby, seek shelter under the door frame or under the stairs, as the doors sometimes jam with jerks. When in the kitchen or in the lab, close the valve as soon as the shock is mild, try to get out. If you're on the top floor, don't go down the stairs during the tremors...
Read more