Higher incidence of strongly evaporative days drives severe water
deficit for ombrotrophic peatlands
Abstract
“‘latex
The capacity of peatlands to sequester and store atmospheric carbon is
coupled to their hydrological functioning but is threatened by increases
in the frequency and severity of extreme weather. The hydrological
functioning of a near-intact water-shedding ombrotrophic blanket bog is
characterised here using a decade-long (2010 – 2021)
hydro-meteorological series. This period includes the substantial
drawdown of water tables during the 2018 UK summer heatwave. Annual
peatland water balances were calculated for three consecutive
hydrological years (2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20) and comprised, on
average, 930 mm of precipitation (P), 335 mm evapotranspiration (ET),
371 mm runoff and −7 mm change in water storage (ΔS). Average annual
water table depth (WTD) relates primarily to available energy (net
radiation – soil heat flux), while monthly average WTD is driven mainly
by the vapour pressure deficit (VPD). Summer water availability (P –
ET) is controlled more by precipitation than evapotranspiration and
drives much of summer changes in ΔS. Deeper summer WTD patterns
associate with greater incidence of warm, highly evaporative days, and
the 2018 summer drawdown (−427 mm) reflects both low water availability
(P – ET) and high incidence of evaporative days. By winter 2018/19 the
water balance had recovered, demonstrating the resilience of this
near-intact blanket bog to hydrological extremes. However, the increased
risk of summer heatwaves, milder winters and trends towards reduced
winter-spring precipitation will impact interannual hydrological
regimes, particularly affecting the extent of winter recharge and summer
water table drawdown potentially jeopardising the longer-term stability
of peatlands.