Trait-based understanding of aerenchymous plant controls on peatland methane cycle

Wetlands are the largest and increasing natural source of methane. Peatlands are wetlands with a thick layer of peat and often a high

cover of plants with aerenchyma, an adaptation to transport oxygen for the roots under water. The same tissue transports methane into

the atmosphere. Plants also provide substrate for methane production. Peatland methane cycling depends on plants, but the exact plant

traits are not well known. Peatland vegetation is changing because of the altered climate and land use, making it important to understand

how these changes affect methane cycling. This project will quantify oxygen and methane transport and substrate provisioning by

aerenchymous plants and the traits related to these processes. We quantify, how the traits vary between species, environmental conditions

and land uses and how well they explain ecosystem scale methane release. This data will be combined with information about plant and

microbial community and methane production and oxidation.