Assessing historical biomass- and fossil fuel-derived pyrogenic carbon inputs to peatland carbon stocks in the Changbai Mountains (China)

Purpose The increase in human activities and climate change has caused more pyrogenic carbon (PyC), which is produced by fossil fuels or incomplete biomass consumption, to accumulate in natural ecosystems in the past hundred years and has caused serious effects on soil carbon pools. Although the peatland soil carbon pool represents 25-30% of the terrestrial soil carbon pool, the long-term effects of PyC on this pool are still unknown.Material and method We identified the historical accumulation rates of PyC from fossil fuel and biomass sources through delta C-13-PyC values in four typical peat cores in the Changbai Mountains (China) and evaluated the effects of PyC accumulation on peatland carbon pools.Results and discussion The average delta C-13-PyC values in the four peat cores of Changbai Mountains ranged from - 29.73 +/- 0.66 to - 29.15 +/- 1.46 parts per thousand , and higher delta C-13-PyC values in high-altitude peatlands than those in the low-altitude region indicated a higher proportion of fossil fuel-derived PyC deposited in high-altitude peatlands. Compared to local pollution history, fossil fuel-derived PyC in the high-altitude region was mainly produced from local industrial sources, and in the low-altitude region, it was mainly produced from several different anthropogenic sources (e.g., wars and transportation). Biomass-derived PyC in Changbai Mountains was caused by local fires, which were mainly influenced by climatic conditions and local government policies.Conclusion The effects of these two sources of PyC on the carbon content and carbon accumulation rates were overall positive. Because local fires directly affect the peatland carbon pool, the impact of biomass-derived PyC on the peatland carbon pool is more complex than that of fossil fuel-derived PyC.