Moss responses to elevated CO2 and variation in hydrology in a temperate lowland peatland

We studied the effects of elevated CO2 (180-200 ppmv above ambient) on growth and chemistry of three moss species (Sphagnum palustre, S. recurvum and Polytrichum commune) in a lowland peatland in the Netherlands. Thereto, we conducted both a greenhouse experiment with both Sphagnum species and a field experiment with all three species using MiniFACE (Free Air CO2 Enrichment) technology during 3 years. The greenhouse experiment showed that Sphagnum growth was stimulated by elevated CO2 in the short term, but that in the longer term (1 year) growth was probably inhibited by low water tables and/or down-regulation of photosynthesis. In the field experiment, we did not find significant changes in moss abundance in response to elevated CO2, although CO2 enrichment appeared to reduce S. recurvum abundance. Both Sphagnum species showed stronger responses to spatial variation in hydrology than to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Polytrichum was insensitive to changes in hydrology. Apart from the confounding effects of hydrology, the relative lack of growth response of the moss species may also have been due to the relatively small increase in assimilated CO2 as achieved by the experimentally added CO2. We calculated that the added CO2 contributed at most 32% to the carbon assimilation of the mosses, while our estimates based on stable C isotope data even suggest lower contributions for Sphagnum (24-27%). Chemical analyses of the mosses showed only small elevated CO2 effects on living tissue N concentration and C/N ratio of the mosses, but the C/N ratio of Polytrichum was substantially lower than those of the Sphagnum species. Continuing expansion of Polytrichum at the expense of Sphagnum could reduce the C sink function of this lowland Sphagnum peatland, and similar ones elsewhere, as litter decomposition rates would probably be enhanced. Such a reduction in sink function would be driven mostly by increased atmospheric N deposition, water table regulation for agricultural purposes and land management to preserve the early successional stage (mowing, tree and shrub removal), since these anthropogenic factors will probably exert a greater control on competition between Polytrichum and Sphagnum than increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations.