To further the understanding of respiration processes of northern peatlands, the relative importance of each type of belowground respiration was determined at Mer Bleue, a northern peatland located near Ottawa, Ontario, from June to November, 2003. Direct measurements of total, soil organic matter (SOM) and root respiration were made, with rhizosphere respiration determined by residual. Although an aboveground source, determination of live Sphagnum respiration was also attempted in the field. To identify changes in CO2 fluxes with environmental conditions, peat temperature and water table levels were monitored throughout the study period. / SOM respiration was higher than hypothesized at 63% while root and rhizosphere respiration were lower than hypothesized at 21% and 16%, respectively, of total belowground respiration. As the field experiment for determining live Sphagnum respiration was unsuccessful, it was determined by calculation to be 18% of total respiration, slightly higher than hypothesized. Opposite of hypothesized, air temperatures, peat temperatures and water table levels generally had weak and insignificant relationships when linearly regressed with total respiration.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.98806 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Stewart, Heather, 1971- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Geography.) |
| Rights | © Heather Stewart, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002339205, proquestno: AAIMR24807, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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