Carbon gas exchange of a re-vegetated cut-away peatland five decades after abandonment

Only little is known about the long-term carbon dynamics related to peatland restoration. We studied CO 2 and CH 4 dynamics of spontaneously regenerated peat trenches five decades after peat harvesting had ceased. We used non-linear regression models and interpolation for simulating gas exchange of four regenerating plant communities during two growing seasons and one winter. The studied communities all acted as seasonal (June-September) sinks of CO 2 between 14 and 118 g C m -2 , while the emissions of CH 4 ranged from -4.9 to -28.8 g C m -2 . When the winter time losses of carbon and the estimated leaching were subtracted, the balance was very low or negative: between -67 and 31 g C m- 2 . The low or even negative annual carbon balance in all communities may suggest a decrease in carbon sink strength in the advanced regeneration after the previously observed strong sink in the first regeneration stages caused by mass colonization by Eriophorum.