Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Peat covered areas makes up about one quarter of the total Swedish land area
and are composed of accumulated organic material that can reach great depths.
Nowadays, they are a valuable resource for man due to its many applications and
functions. In Europe they are disappearing at an accelerated rate due to the increasing
demands for energy, agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

The purpose of this work was to observe the CN-ratio proprieties and trends for
peatlands during the last 30 years and throughout different regions of Sweden. Included
were C/N values observed within a specific fertility classification to see
how they correlated with the different fertility classes. For the purpose, three soil
datasets (1983-87; 1993-98; 2003-08) were used.

It was observed as expected that the CN-ratios were low in the more fertile
classes and high on the less fertile ones. However, there were no noticeable CNratio
trends throughout the years. Within the different regions of Sweden the results
were contradicting the expectations, since the C/N values were lower in the
north than in the south of Sweden, as opposed to the N deposition values, which
are much higher in the south than in the north.