TY - JOUR T1 - Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance JF - Nature Communications Y1 - 2018 A1 - Hodgkins, Suzanne B. A1 - Richardson, Curtis J. A1 - Dommain, René A1 - Wang, Hongjun A1 - Glaser, Paul H. A1 - Verbeke, Brittany A1 - Winkler, B. Rose A1 - Cobb, Alexander R. A1 - Rich, Virginia I. A1 - Missilmani, Malak A1 - Flanagan, Neal A1 - Ho, Mengchi A1 - Hoyt, Alison M. A1 - Harvey, Charles F. A1 - Vining, S. Rose A1 - Hough, Moira A. A1 - Moore, Tim R. A1 - Richard, Pierre J. H. A1 - De La Cruz, Florentino B. A1 - Toufaily, Joumana A1 - Hamdan, Rasha A1 - Cooper, William T. A1 - Chanton, Jeffrey P. AB - Peatlands represent large terrestrial carbon banks. Given that most peat accumulates in boreal regions, where low temperatures and water saturation preserve organic matter, the existence of peat in (sub)tropical regions remains enigmatic. Here we examined peat and plant chemistry across a latitudinal transect from the Arctic to the tropics. Near-surface low-latitude peat has lower carbohydrate and greater aromatic content than near-surface high-latitude peat, creating a reduced oxidation state and resulting recalcitrance. This recalcitrance allows peat to persist in the (sub)tropics despite warm temperatures. Because we observed similar declines in carbohydrate content with depth in high-latitude peat, our data explain recent field-scale deep peat warming experiments in which catotelm (deeper) peat remained stable despite temperature increases up to 9 °C. We suggest that high-latitude deep peat reservoirs may be stabilized in the face of climate change by their ultimately lower carbohydrate and higher aromatic composition, similar to tropical peats. VL - 9 UR - http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06050-2 IS - 1 ER -