Seeing Our Future More Clearly: How One Peatland Study is Changing How We Think About Carbon

Abstract

On a 20-acre bog in the Marcell Experimental Forest in northern Minnesota, 10 open-topped chambers rise more than 23 feet out of the peatland, connected by walkways that seem to float over a layer of Sphagnum moss. "Some people have compared it to the science fiction scene of an alien landing spot on planet Earth," says Stephen Sebestyen, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service's Northern Research Station (NRS), and one of the scientists collaborating on this study. "In reality, what this turns out to be is, the world's largest climate change experiment."

Citation

USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2021.Seeing Our Future More Clearly: How One Peatland Study is Changing How We Think About Carbon. Rooted in Research. Issue 7, August 2021. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2p