Chronic atmospheric reactive N deposition has breached the N sink capacity of a northern ombrotrophic peatbog increasing the gaseous and fluvial N losses.

Abstract

Peatlands play an important role in modulating the climate, mainly through sequestration of carbon dioxide into peat carbon, which depends on the availability of reactive nitrogen (Nr) to mosses. Atmospheric Nr deposition in the UK has been above the critical load for functional and structural changes to peatland mosses, thus threatening to accelerate their succession by vascular plants and increasing the possibility of Nr export to downstream ecosystems. The N balance of peatlands has received comparatively little attention, mainly due to the difficulty in measuring gaseous N losses as well as the Nr inputs due to biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). In this study we have estimated the mean annual N balance of an ombrotrophic bog (Migneint, North Wales) by measuring in situ N2 + N2O gaseous fluxes and also BNF in peat and mosses. Fluvial N export was monitored through a continuous record of DON flux, while atmospheric N deposition was modelled on a 5 × 5 km grid. The mean annual N mass balance was slightly positive (0.7 ± 4.1 kg N ha-1 y-1) and varied interannually indicating the fragile status of this bog ecosystem that has reached N saturation and is prone to becoming a net N source. Gaseous N losses were a major N output term accounting for 70% of the N inputs, mainly in the form of the inert N2 gas, thus providing partial mitigation to the adverse effects of chronic Nr enrichment. BNF was suppressed by 69%, compared to rates in pristine bogs, but was still active, contributing ~2% of the N inputs. The long-term peat N storage rate (8.4 ± 0.8 kg N ha-1 y-1) cannot be met by the measured N mass balance, showing that the bog catchment is losing more N than it can store due its saturated status.