Location: South East Scotland, United Kingdom
Type: Ecosystem measurements
Site type: Wetland
Greenhouse gas concentrations measured by ICOS: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4)
The ICOS Auchencorth Moss is one of few stations in the world measuring the greenhouse gas exchange between the air and the peatland.
Although located just 20 kilometres from Edinburgh, the station stands on a large, remote peatland in the windy countryside. This peatland is dependent on inputs of nutrients via precipitation, such as rain and snow.
Peatlands store huge amounts of carbon. As temperatures rise due to climate change, the peat could release stored carbon as greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide and methane. However, at Auchencorth Moss, the carbon storage during the growing season has increased after mild winters and may therefore respond positively to climate change. Yet, changes in precipitation and long-term changes in plant species could have competing effects.
ICOS is currently investigating this complex process, as the changing climate could also change the vegetation in the peatland, causing it to act differently in the future. Thus, ICOS observations at Auchencorth Moss help the world to better understand the behaviour of peatlands in response to climate change.
ICOS Auchencorth Moss station is the only ICOS ecosystem station in the UK and it is part of the ICOS Ecosystem Network, which is working towards understanding the processes behind the exchange of energy and greenhouse gases between the ecosystems and the atmosphere. In Auchencorth Moss, ICOS measures cover most important greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), which are the two primary greenhouse gases contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect.