Effect of experimental nitrogen load on methane and nitrous oxide fluxes on ombrotrophic boreal peatland

Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) dynamics were studied in a boreal Sphagnum fuscum pine bog receiving annually (from 1991 to 1996) 30 or 100 kg NH4NO3-N ha(-1). The gas emissions were measured during the last three growing seasons of the experiment. Nitrogen treatment did not affect the CH4 fluxes in the microsites where S. fuscum and S. angustifolium dominated. However, addition of 100 kg NH4NO3-N ha(-1) yr(-1) increased the CH4 emission from those microsites dominated by S. fuscum. This increase was associated with the increase in coverage of cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) induced by the nitrogen treatment. The differences in the CH4 emissions were not related to the CH4 oxidation and production potentials in the peat profiles. The N2O fluxes were negligible from all microsites. Only minor short-term increases occurred after the nitrogen addition.