Relocation of carbon from decaying litter in drained peat soils

Recent findings have indicated that the carbon density and store in peat soil may increase after drainage for forestry, even if soil respiration has clearly increased. This is caused by the increased organic C flow from tree stands into soil and consequent retention in the peat matrix. Relocation of 14C-activity released from the labelled needle and fine root litter during 4- and 8-month incubation experiments showed that, on average, only 60–80% of the activity lost from litter was emitted to the atmosphere. The proportion retained in the moss layer was from 7 to 14%, in the peat soil from 7 to 18% and in the water percolated through the peat from <1 to 8%. The results thus support the hypothesis that organic C flow may contribute to C storage in drained peat soils.