Articles | Volume 23, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-5549-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-5549-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
12 Aug 2026
Research article |
| 12 Aug 2026
| 12 Aug 2026
Estimation of the degree of decomposition of peat and past net primary production from mid-infrared spectra
Henning Teickner
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Ecohydrology & Biogeochemistry Group, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Spatiotemporal Modelling Lab, Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Julien Arsenault
Département des Sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, H2X 1Y4, Canada
Mariusz Gałka
University of Lodz, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Department of Biogeography, Paleoecology and Nature Conservation, Banacha 1/3, 90-237 Łodz, Poland
Klaus-Holger Knorr
Ecohydrology & Biogeochemistry Group, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
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We developed models that predict physical and chemical peat properties from mid-infrared spectra (MIRS). These peat properties are necessary for modeling peatland dynamics. Compared to direct measurements of these properties, measurements of MIRS require less sample material and save time. Unlike existing models that focus on peat, the models developed here are openly available, relatively easy to use and have basic quality checks and estimates for prediction errors.
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The Holocene Peatland Model (HPM) is a widely used peatland model to understand and predict long-term peatland dynamics. Here, we test whether the HPM can predict Sphagnum litterbag decomposition rates from oxic to anoxic conditions. Our results indicate that decomposition rates change more gradually from oxic to anoxic conditions and may be underestimated under anoxic conditions, possibly because the effect of water table fluctuations on decomposition rates is not considered.
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Decomposition rates for Sphagnum mosses, the main peat-forming plants in northern peatlands, are often derived from litterbag experiments. Here, we estimate initial leaching losses from available Sphagnum litterbag experiments and analyze how decomposition rates are biased when initial leaching losses are ignored. Our analyses indicate that initial leaching losses range between 3 to 18 mass-% and that this may result in overestimated mass losses when extrapolated to several decades.
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The chemical quality of biomass can be described with holocellulose (relatively easily decomposable by microorganisms) and Klason lignin (relatively recalcitrant) contents. Measuring both is laborious. In a recent study, models have been proposed which can predict both quicker from mid-infrared spectra. However, it has not been analyzed if these models make correct predictions for biomass in soils and how to improve them. We provide such a validation and a strategy for their improvement.
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Henning Teickner and Klaus-Holger Knorr
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Hannes Keck, Laurence Strubbe, Paul M. Magyar, Adriano Joss, Andreas Froemelt, André Kupferschmid, Klaus-Holger Knorr, and Joachim Mohn
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We monitored nitrous oxide in a pilot wastewater treatment plant in real time to understand how microbes produce and remove this greenhouse gas. We designed and tested a laser-based analytical setup, with which we were able to show that denitrification is the main source of nitrous oxide emissions and that low oxygen concentrations enhances nitrous oxide removal. Our approach offers a new way to monitor the wastewater treatment processes and to cut climate-relevant nitrous oxide emissions.
Angelica Feurdean, Randy Fulweber, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Graeme T. Swindles, and Mariusz Gałka
Biogeosciences, 22, 6651–6667, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-6651-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-6651-2025, 2025
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We found low fire activity in northern Arctic Alaska from ~1000 BCE to 500 CE, and a marked increase post-1950 CE, when it exceeded any levels observed in the preceding millennia. Deepening of water tables and peatland drying associated with permafrost thaw have facilitated woody encroachment, leading to enhanced fire activity. This study highlights that moisture–vegetation–fire feedbacks significantly influence tundra fire regimes, with implications for ongoing Arctic greening and warming.
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The Holocene Peatland Model (HPM) is a widely used peatland model to understand and predict long-term peatland dynamics. Here, we test whether the HPM can predict Sphagnum litterbag decomposition rates from oxic to anoxic conditions. Our results indicate that decomposition rates change more gradually from oxic to anoxic conditions and may be underestimated under anoxic conditions, possibly because the effect of water table fluctuations on decomposition rates is not considered.
Henning Teickner, Edzer Pebesma, and Klaus-Holger Knorr
Biogeosciences, 22, 417–433, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-417-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-417-2025, 2025
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Julien Arsenault, Julie Talbot, Tim R. Moore, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Henning Teickner, and Jean-François Lapierre
Biogeosciences, 21, 3491–3507, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3491-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3491-2024, 2024
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Henning Teickner and Klaus-Holger Knorr
SOIL, 8, 699–715, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-699-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-699-2022, 2022
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The chemical quality of biomass can be described with holocellulose (relatively easily decomposable by microorganisms) and Klason lignin (relatively recalcitrant) contents. Measuring both is laborious. In a recent study, models have been proposed which can predict both quicker from mid-infrared spectra. However, it has not been analyzed if these models make correct predictions for biomass in soils and how to improve them. We provide such a validation and a strategy for their improvement.
Cordula Nina Gutekunst, Susanne Liebner, Anna-Kathrina Jenner, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Viktoria Unger, Franziska Koebsch, Erwin Don Racasa, Sizhong Yang, Michael Ernst Böttcher, Manon Janssen, Jens Kallmeyer, Denise Otto, Iris Schmiedinger, Lucas Winski, and Gerald Jurasinski
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Methane emissions decreased after a seawater inflow and a preceding drought in freshwater rewetted coastal peatland. However, our microbial and greenhouse gas measurements did not indicate that methane consumers increased. Rather, methane producers co-existed in high numbers with their usual competitors, the sulfate-cycling bacteria. We studied the peat soil and aimed to cover the soil–atmosphere continuum to better understand the sources of methane production and consumption.
Liam Heffernan, Maria A. Cavaco, Maya P. Bhatia, Cristian Estop-Aragonés, Klaus-Holger Knorr, and David Olefeldt
Biogeosciences, 19, 3051–3071, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3051-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3051-2022, 2022
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Permafrost thaw in peatlands leads to waterlogged conditions, a favourable environment for microbes producing methane (CH4) and high CH4 emissions. High CH4 emissions in the initial decades following thaw are due to a vegetation community that produces suitable organic matter to fuel CH4-producing microbes, along with warm and wet conditions. High CH4 emissions after thaw persist for up to 100 years, after which environmental conditions are less favourable for microbes and high CH4 emissions.
Angelica Feurdean, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Mirjam Pfeiffer, Mariusz Gałka, Simon M. Hutchinson, Geanina Butiseaca, Natalia Gorina, Spassimir Tonkov, Aidin Niamir, Ioan Tantau, Hui Zhang, and Sergey Kirpotin
Clim. Past, 18, 1255–1274, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1255-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1255-2022, 2022
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We used palaeoecological records from peatlands in southern Siberia. We showed that warmer climate conditions have lowered the water level and increased the fuel amount and flammability, consequently also increasing the frequency and severity of fires as well as the composition of tree types.
Ramona J. Heim, Andrey Yurtaev, Anna Bucharova, Wieland Heim, Valeriya Kutskir, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Christian Lampei, Alexandr Pechkin, Dora Schilling, Farid Sulkarnaev, and Norbert Hölzel
Biogeosciences, 19, 2729–2740, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2729-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2729-2022, 2022
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Fires will probably increase in Arctic regions due to climate change. Yet, the long-term effects of tundra fires on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks and cycling are still unclear. We investigated the long-term fire effects on C and N stocks and cycling in soil and aboveground living biomass.
We found that tundra fires did not affect total C and N stocks because a major part of the stocks was located belowground in soils which were largely unaltered by fire.
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Short summary
We present a method to estimate the degree of decomposition (fraction of initial mass remaining) of peat from mid-infrared spectra, which also allows to reconstruct the initial mass (aboveground net primary production). Both quantities are required to estimate the mass and carbon balance of peatlands and are useful to model peat physical and hydraulic properties. The approach is therefore useful to test and improve peatland models and our understanding of the long-term peatland carbon cycle.
We present a method to estimate the degree of decomposition (fraction of initial mass remaining)...
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