152 West Siberian Peatlands and Carbon Cycle: Past and Present

SELECTED ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GREENHOUSE GASES MEASUREMENT SITE AT WETLAND OF THE , Maciej Ziułkiewicz1*, Jacek Forysiak1**, Anna Fortuniak1***, Krzysztof Fortuniak1****, Marek Kloss2, Daniel Okupny3 1 Faculty of Geographical Science, University of Łódź, Poland *E-mail: [email protected] **E-mail: [email protected] ***E-mail: [email protected] ****E-mail: [email protected] 2 University Kardinal Stefan Wyszynski, Warsaw, Poland E-mail: [email protected], 3 Institute of Geography, Department of Sustainability and Development of the Geographical Environment, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland E-mail: [email protected].

The carbon circulation between the earth and the the south and Elk Lakeland in the north. This area atmosphere is one of the most important mecha- is drained by the Biebrza River and flowing from the nisms affecting the climate changes and variability. north toward the Elk and River. Additional ele- Wet ecosystems plays an important role in this cir- ments of the hydrographic network are: Augustows- culation as they accumulate about 30% of the whole ki, Woźnawiejski and Rudzki channels. Between soil carbon, even if they occupy relatively small part the lower section of the Elk River and connecting of the land (Gorham, 1991). Moreover, wetlands af- Augustowski channel with Biebrza River operates fect climate in local and global scale due to specific the small stream – Kopytkówka, at less than 8 km energy balance with high portion of the latent heat. length. Kopytkówka river once constituted a peat- Consequently, studying a gas exchange between land drainage network element extending between wetland and the atmosphere is important in the con- dunes complex Grzędy and the village Kopytkowo, text of the observed global environmental changes. also situated on the flat, sandy elevation. Middle However, the quantitative information of net ecosys- Biebrza Basin is a fen complex, in groundwater flow tem exchange of main greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 influx zones were created patches of rush peatland and H2O) is limited for Central European wetlands. (Żurek, 1991). It was a motivation for setting in November 2012 a A period of several decades, agricultural devel- new measurements site located within the biggest opment of mires has caused strong peat decom- in the region wetland at the area of Biebrza National position in the upper catchment of Kopytkуwka, Park in north-east Poland. The Park established to whereas in the lower part it transformed into muck protect unique environment of wetland in the biggest (Grygoruk et al., 2011). In the past few years there peatland in Eastern Poland. The main task of the has been flooding this part of the Biebrza basin and site is to collect the long-term flux data measured succession of peat forming vegetation. by the open-path eddy-covariance system. The se- The objective of the geological and geochemi- lected environmental characteristic of the site are cal analyses of the biogenic deposits was to recon- presented below as a proxy information in further struct the conditions of deposition of the sediments. analysis of turbulent exchange of main greenhouse During the field works four biogenic sediment cores gases. were also taken by means of an Instorf corer (Rus- The Biebrza National Park is the biggest one sian sampler). Other woks included: plant macro- in Poland with total area of about 592 km2 wherein fossils analyses, sampling in laboratory conditions 255 km2 is covered by swamps, 182 km2 by grass- (the cores were divided into sections with a length lands and agriculture and 155 km2 by forests. Three from 5 cm to 2.5 cm. A total of 70 biogenic sedi- major morphological units can be selected in the ment samples were taken from the K-1 core. Their Biebrza Valley: Upper, Middle and Lower Basin. The analysis covered: identification of basic components area of interest is located in the middle part of the of biogenic deposits, i.e. organic matter (loss on ig- Biebrza Valley close to the small village Kopytkowo. nition), calcium carbonate, terigenic and biogenic The measurement site is located at the periphery of silica (sample dissolution in hydrochloric acid and the famous mire called “Czerwone Bagno” near to potassium hydroxide), and reaction (potentiometric the village Kopytkowo (53o35’30,8”N, 22o53’32,4”E). method – in distilled water). The K-1 sediment core Middle Basin of the Biebrza River represent post- is located directly next to the measurement point, glacial, marginal basin between Upland Goniądz in about 2 m to the south. At this point the thickness Section 2. Carbon Cycle in Mire Ecosystems: Productivity, Carbon Stock, Decomposition and Greenhouse Gases Emission 153

Fig. Location of the Biebrza National Park in Poland (upper left), measurement site in Kopytkowo in the middle Biebrza Basin (upper right) and a view at the site (lower plot) of organic deposits is 170 cm. In the upper part of - the dominance of groundwater which was hy- core was documented poorly decomposed peat drochemically transformed by shallow filtration in with a high content of organic matter (60–80%). organic matter – far inflow from the north; Below (20–80 cm) peat is highly decomposed and - the dominance of flood waters from Kopytkуwka partly mineralized, with sand additives (organic river – a close inflow from the south. matter content – 15–40%). From a depth of 80 cm The first type of inflow dominates in summer and to 140 cm was deposited peat with admixtures of autumn. It is characterized by increased mineraliza- sand and mud (increasing downward). Below ar- tion of water. The water is deprived of nitrate and rears mineral-organic silt from the remains of plants. sulfate, it is enriched in carbohydrate, and contains The substratum of biogenic deposits is medium-and relatively large amounts of dissolved organic carbon coarse-grained sand of fluvial origin. and aggressive carbon dioxide. The water feeding of the Middle Basin of the The second type of water occurs in late win- Biebrza shape: rainfall, river flooding and ground- ter and spring, and the waters is characterized by water inflow from the north (Grygoruk et al., 2011). a low mineralization , small amounts of sulfates, Biebrza Valley is a regional zone of drainage water- smaller amounts of carbohydrate and aggressive bearing, Cenozoic deposits bed. This structures oc- carbon dioxide. Middle inflow and location near curred in uplands areas (surrounding Biebrza basin) permanent human settlements makes increasing as intermoraine or till-covering bodies (Falkowski concentrations of mineral nitrogen with nitrates. and Złotoszewska-Niedziałek, 2008). Very preliminary measurements of Eh of water, Preliminary hydrochemical studies suggest two in both the ceiling and the floor of peat layer, in the periods of water feeding in Kopytkowo: area of the​ Kopykowo site indicate substantially 154 West Siberian Peatlands and Carbon Cycle: Past and Present

neutral pH reaction and low reducing conditions original water system. For that reason biological (above – 150 mV), far from methanogenesis. and chemical processes at the area can differ from For some years the natural area around Biebrza other wetlands. The problem is typical for a large River suffer for partially draining due to irrigation sys- part of western Poland where irrigation made a few tems. Recently there are some afford to re-cultivate decades ago altered natural ecosystem.

Funding for this research was supported by the Polish National Centre of the Science under project UMO-2011/01/B/ST10/07550.

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