A role for dendroecology in guiding hydrologic restoration and mitigating risks of peatland soil loss: an example from Chamaecyparis thyoides forests

Key message

Tree rings of Chamaecyparis thyoides exhibit growth responses that are influenced by local hydrologic conditions through decadal timescales. That perspective can assist peatland natural resource managers in selection of hydrologic restoration targets that minimize chronic microbial oxidation and acute peat loss associated with fire.

Abstract

Temperate forested peatlands are valued for myriad ecosystem services including carbon storage and biodiversity which may be lost through anthropogenic disturbance of hydrologic regimes. Hydrologic alterations may be recorded in tree stem growth patterns and provide insights for management and restoration. In Chamaecyparis thyoides (Atlantic White Cedar, Juniper) swamps, stand drainage causes a shift from net soil carbon sink to source as microbial oxidation and catastrophic fire oxidize stored organic matter. Here, we analyze historic radial growth patterns in C. thyoides in order to characterize drainage history to guide hydrologic management for peat conservation and restoration. Basal area increment (BAI) estimates across a ~ 60-year chronology (1939–2003) were analyzed by flexible beta cluster analysis of 185 trees from 13 C. thyoides stands in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia and North Carolina, USA. Stands formed 3 groups, and growth rates among all groups were indicative of a drained hydrologic regime throughout the chronology compared to an undrained control stand. Regime shift analyses identified positive shifts for 2 stand groups in 1954 and for all 3 stand groups in 1963. Multiple response permutation procedures and partial mantel tests both identified two predictive growth variables including (1) visual observations of fluctuation in the water table and (2) proximity to a primary ditch. Growth rate was suppressed when weirs were installed in the mid-1980s; however, growth rebounded within ~ 2 years. The chronology ends when stands were struck by a major hurricane in 2003 and fires in 2008 and 2011 liberated 1.38 Tg of peat carbon. We conclude that dendroecology can detect hydrologic changes through time and can reduce risks of microbial oxidation and catastrophic fire in forested peatlands.