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The Spatial Heterogeneity of Vegetation, Hydrology and Water Chemistry in a Peatland with Open-Water Pools

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Abstract

Ombrotrophic bogs can comprise a mosaic of vegetation patches and open-water pools, with hydrological and biogeochemical connections between pools and the surrounding peat and vegetation. To establish these connections, we studied the spatial heterogeneity of hydrology and water chemistry in two zones of distinct vegetation assemblages in the subboreal Grande plée Bleue peatland, southern Québec, Canada. We show that seasonal water-level fluctuations are greater and organic C, N and P concentrations are higher in the peat pore water of a forested zone than in a neighboring open-bog zone; that vegetation is responsible for 69% of the spatial variations in hydrology and water chemistry. Vegetation also explains 31% of the temporal variation in water chemistry, with higher increases in C, N and P concentrations over the growing season in the forested peat and pools than in the open-bog zone. We also show that C, N and P concentrations and water-level fluctuations in pools, especially during precipitation events, were lower than in the surrounding peat. Our results suggest the existence of small “watersheds” to the pools with water flowing in during wet and out during dry periods. Localized patterns emerge from the vegetation–hydrology–water chemistry interactions, with pools influencing the persistence of trees in the central part of an ombrotrophic bog.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Jules Regard, Zeinab Khanafer, Jordan Paillard, Andy Hennebelle, Evrard Kouadio, Philippe Major, Mike Dalva and Hélène Lalande for their help in the field and in laboratory analysis. We also thank the Société de gestion et de mise en valeur de la Grande plée Bleue for granting access to the study site. The research was funded through a Fonds de recherche du Québec—Nature et Technologies (FRQNT) grant to JT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Géographie, Université de Montréal, 520 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, Québec, H2V 2B8, Canada

    Julien Arsenault, Julie Talbot, Marie-Pierre Beauvais & Jan Franssen

  2. Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Québec, H3A 0B9, Canada

    Tim R. Moore & Nigel T. Roulet

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  1. Julien Arsenault
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Correspondence to Julien Arsenault.

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Author Contributions

JA designed the study, performed the research, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. JT and TRM designed the study and wrote the paper. MPB performed the research and wrote the paper. JF contributed new methods and wrote the paper. NTR designed the study.

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Arsenault, J., Talbot, J., Moore, T.R. et al. The Spatial Heterogeneity of Vegetation, Hydrology and Water Chemistry in a Peatland with Open-Water Pools. Ecosystems 22, 1352–1367 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00342-4

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