Autumn destabilization of deep porewater CO2 store in a northern peatland driven by turbulent diffusion

The deep porewater of northern peatlands stores large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). This store is viewed as a stable feature in the peatland CO2 cycle. Here, we report large and rapid fluctuations in deep porewater CO2 concentration recurring every autumn over four consecutive years in a boreal peatland. Estimates of the vertical diffusion of heat indicate that CO2 diffusion occurs at the turbulent rather than molecular rate. The weakening of porewater thermal stratification in autumn likely increases turbulent diffusion, thus fostering a rapid diffusion of deeper porewater CO2 towards the surface where net losses occur. This phenomenon periodically decreases the peat porewater CO2 store by between 29 and 90 g C m-2 throughout autumn, which is comparable to the peatland's annual C-sink. Our results establish the need to consider the role of turbulent diffusion in regularly destabilizing the CO2 store in peat porewater.

Effect of the 2018 European drought on methane and carbon dioxide exchange of northern mire ecosystems

We analysed the effect of the 2018 European drought on greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange of five North European mire ecosystems. The low precipitation and high summer temperatures in Fennoscandia led to a lowered water table in the majority of these mires. This lowered both carbon dioxide (CO₂) uptake and methane (CH₄) emission during 2018, turning three out of the five mires from CO₂ sinks to sources. The calculated radiative forcing showed that the drought-induced changes in GHG fluxes first resulted in a cooling effect lasting 15–50 years, due to the lowered CH₄ emission, which was followed by warming due to the lower CO₂ uptake.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale’.

PEAT-CLSM: A Specific Treatment of Peatland Hydrology in the NASA Catchment Land Surface Model

Peatlands are poorly represented in global Earth system modeling frameworks. Here we add a peatland-specific land surface hydrology module (PEAT-CLSM) to the Catchment Land Surface Model (CLSM) of the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) framework. The amended TOPMODEL approach of the original CLSM that uses topography characteristics to model catchment processes is discarded, and a peatland-specific model concept is realized in its place. To facilitate its utilization in operational GEOS efforts, PEAT-CLSM uses the basic structure of CLSM and the same global input data. Parameters used in PEAT-CLSM are based on literature data. A suite of CLSM and PEAT-CLSM simulations for peatland areas between 40°N and 75°N is presented and evaluated against a newly compiled data set of groundwater table depth and eddy covariance observations of latent and sensible heat fluxes in natural and seminatural peatlands. CLSM's simulated groundwater tables are too deep and variable, whereas PEAT-CLSM simulates a mean groundwater table depth of -0.20 m (snow-free unfrozen period) with moderate temporal fluctuations (standard deviation of 0.10 m), in significantly better agreement with in situ observations. Relative to an operational CLSM version that simply includes peat as a soil class, the temporal correlation coefficient is increased on average by 0.16 and reaches 0.64 for bogs and 0.66 for fens when driven with global atmospheric forcing data. In PEAT-CLSM, runoff is increased on average by 38% and evapotranspiration is reduced by 19%. The evapotranspiration reduction constitutes a significant improvement relative to eddy covariance measurements.

Glasshouse vs field experiments: do they yield ecologically similar results for assessing N impacts on peat mosses?

• Peat bogs have accumulated more atmospheric carbon (C) than any other terrestrial ecosystem today. Most of this C is associated with peat moss (Sphagnum) litter. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition can decrease Sphagnum production, compromising the C sequestration capacity of peat bogs. The mechanisms underlying the reduced production are uncertain, necessitating multifactorial experiments. • We investigated whether glasshouse experiments are reliable proxies for field experiments for assessing interactions between N deposition and environment as controls on Sphagnum N concentration and production. We performed a meta-analysis over 115 glasshouse experiments and 107 field experiments. • We found that glasshouse and field experiments gave similar qualitative and quantitative estimates of changes in Sphagnum N concentration in response to N application. However, glasshouse-based estimates of changes in production--even qualitative assessments-- diverged from field experiments owing to a stronger N effect on production response in absence of vascular plants in the glasshouse, and a weaker N effect on production response in presence of vascular plants compared to field experiments. • Thus, although we need glasshouse experiments to study how interacting environmental factors affect the response of Sphagnum to increased N deposition, we need field experiments to properly quantify these effects.

Climatic modifiers of the response to nitrogen deposition in peat-forming Sphagnum mosses: a meta-analysis

Peatlands in the northern hemisphere have accumulated more atmospheric carbon (C) during the Holocene than any other terrestrial ecosystem, making peatlands long-term C sinks of global importance. Projected increases in nitrogen (N) deposition and temperature make future accumulation rates uncertain. Here, we assessed the impact of N deposition on peatland C sequestration potential by investigating the effects of experimental N addition on Sphagnum moss. We employed meta-regressions to the results of 107 field experiments, accounting for sampling dependence in the data. We found that high N loading (comprising N application rate, experiment duration, background N deposition) depressed Sphagnum production relative to untreated controls. The interactive effects of presence of competitive vascular plants and high tissue N concentrations indicated intensified biotic interactions and altered nutrient stochiometry as mechanisms underlying the detrimental N effects. Importantly, a higher summer temperature (mean for July) and increased annual precipitation intensified the negative effects of N. The temperature effect was comparable to an experimental application of almost 4 g N m(-2)  yr(-1) for each 1°C increase. Our results indicate that current rates of N deposition in a warmer environment will strongly inhibit C sequestration by Sphagnum-dominated vegetation.

Epidermal growth factor receptor regulates MET levels and invasiveness through hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Recent studies have established that amplification of the MET proto-oncogene can cause resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines with EGFR-activating mutations. The role of non-amplified MET in EGFR-dependent signaling before TKI resistance, however, is not well understood. Using NSCLC cell lines and transgenic models, we demonstrate here that EGFR activation by either mutation or ligand binding increases MET gene expression and protein levels. Our analysis of 202 NSCLC patient specimens was consistent with these observations: levels of MET were significantly higher in NSCLC with EGFR mutations than in NSCLC with wild-type EGFR. EGFR regulation of MET levels in cell lines occurred through the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha pathway in a hypoxia-independent manner. This regulation was lost, however, after MET gene amplification or overexpression of a constitutively active form of HIF-1alpha. EGFR- and hypoxia-induced invasiveness of NSCLC cells, but not cell survival, were found to be MET dependent. These findings establish that, absent MET amplification, EGFR signaling can regulate MET levels through HIF-1alpha and that MET is a key downstream mediator of EGFR-induced invasiveness in EGFR-dependent NSCLC cells.

Epidermal hyperplasia overlying human melanoma correlates with tumour depth and angiogenesis

The aim of this study was to determine whether epidermal hyperplasia overlying cutaneous human melanoma is associated with increased tumour angiogenesis, tumour growth and the potential for metastasis. Forty-two surgical specimens of cutaneous human melanoma of different depths, each containing epidermis present in the tumour-free margin, were analysed by immunohistochemistry for the expression of the pro-angiogenic molecules basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) and the anti-angiogenic molecule interferon-beta (IFN-beta). The epidermis overlying intermediate and thick (1.0-10.0 mm), but not thin (0.5-1.0 mm), melanoma specimens was hyperplastic. Although the expression level of bFGF, VEGF and IL-8 in the epidermis directly overlying the tumour was similar to that in the distant epidermis, the expression of IFN-beta was significantly decreased in keratinocytes overlying intermediate and thick, but not thin, melanomas. The microvessel density was also increased in intermediate and thick specimens. Human melanoma cells were injected subcutaneously into nude mice. The resulting tumours were used to determine the association between overlying epidermal hyperplasia and neoplastic angiogenesis. Similar to human autochthonous melanomas, epidermal hyperplasia was found only over lesions produced by metastatic cells. Although there was no change in the expression of the pro-angiogenic molecules, the expression of IFN-beta was significantly decreased in the hyperplastic epidermis. Conditioned medium collected from cultures of the metastatic cell line induced in vitro proliferation of mouse keratinocytes, whereas conditioned medium collected from cultures of the non-metastatic cell line did not. Collectively, the data demonstrate that metastatic melanoma cells induce keratinocyte proliferation, leading to decreased expression of the negative regulator of angiogenesis, IFN-beta, and hence to increased angiogenesis.