Carbon flux inventories on disturbed peatlands as part of the Carbon Supersite Programme in the Baltic Region

Drained peatlands are characteristic of today’s landscape in Kaliningrad Oblast, which is located in the southeastern part of the Baltic Region. In 2021, the area was included in the Carbon Supersite Programme of the Russian Federation, which aims to implement greenhouse gas inventories and carbon cycle studies at regionally relevant or reference sites (carbon supersites). Our investigations provide baseline data on carbon fluxes from a typical drained peatland, as part of the Central European region, focusing on the spatial heterogeneity of its vegetation cover. The study showed that the integral carbon balance consists of four main components. Most of the carbon losses are soil-atmosphere carbon dioxide fluxes (65%) and its emission from aboveground woody plants (33%). The methane emissions and dissolved organic carbon flux are only 2% of the total carbon loss. The unmanaged abandoned peatland currently has a significant annual carbon loss of 4.83 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. The reduction in emissions is proposed to be achieved through the implementation of rewetting.