The impact of cultivation on CO2 and CH4 fluxes over organic soils in Sweden

Cultivated organic soils are large contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. We measured carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes from two organic soil plots in central Sweden between 2012 and 2016 using the eddy covariance technique. One site was cultivated whilst the other was set aside with no cultivation occurring. The aim was to establish the impact that cultivation had on the carbon balance. Over the five year period the set aside field acted as a net carbon source whilst the cultivated site was seen to be a small carbon sink. The set aside was further seen to act as a small methane sink over a 36 month period, which reduced the CO2 source by ca. 10% in terms of CO2 equivalents. Considering exported biomass, both sites were carbon sources in terms of Net Biome Production (NBP).