Retraction Statement: Comparison of nitrogen inputs and accumulation in 210 Pb-dated peat cores: Evidence for biological N2 -fixation in Central European peatlands despite decades of atmospheric N pollution.

"Comparison of nitrogen inputs and accumulation in 210 Pb-dated peat cores: Evidence for biological N2 -fixation in Central European peatlands despite decades of atmospheric N pollution" https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14505, by Martin Novak, Melanie A. Vile, Jan Curik, Bohuslava Cejkova, Jiri Barta, Marketa Stepanova, Ivana Jackova, Frantisek Buzek, Leona Bohdalkova, Eva Prechova, Frantisek Veselovsky, Marie Adamova, Ivana Valkova and Arnost Komarek. The above article, first published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) in Global Change Biology, has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor-in-Chief, Stephen P. Long, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Since publication of the above article, it was brought to the attention of the authors that the peat accretion rates violate reasonable ranges of peatland C/N/P stoichiometry, placing the quantitative conclusions of the article in serious error. The authors apologize for any inconvenience the publication of this work may have caused our readers. REFERENCE Novak, M., Vile, M. A., Cejkova, B., Barta, J., Stepanova, M., Jackova, I., Buzek, F., Bohdalkova, L., Prechova, E., Veselovsky, F., Adamova, M., Valkova, I., & Komarek, A. (2018). Comparison of nitrogen inputs and accumulation in 210 Pb-dated peat cores: Evidence for biological N2 -fixation in Central European peatlands despite decades of atmospheric N pollution. Global Change Biology.. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14505.

Experimental evidence for mobility/immobility of metals in peat.

The biogeochemical cycles of most toxic metals have been significantly altered by anthropogenic activities. Anaerobic, rain-fed organic soils are believed to record historical changes in atmospheric pollution. Suspected postdepositional mobility of trace elements, however, hinders the usefulness of peat bogs as pollution archives. To lower this uncertainty, we quantified the mobility of six trace metals in peat during an 18-month field manipulation. A replicated, reciprocal peat transplant experiment was conducted between a heavily polluted and a relatively unpolluted peatland, located 200 km apart in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). Both peatlands were Sphagnum-derived, lawn-dominated, and had water table close to the surface. A strikingly different behavior was observed for two groups of elements. Elements of group I, Fe and Mn, adjusted their abundances and vertical patterns to the host site, showing an extremely high degree of mobility. In contrast, elements of group II, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ti, preserved their original vertical patterns at the host site, showing a high degree of immobility. Our experimental results suggest that not just lead, but also copper and zinc concentration profiles in peat are a reliable archive of temporal pollution changes within a wide pH range (2.5-5.8).

Accumulation of organic carbon over the past 150 years in five freshwater peatlands in western and central Europe.

Under predicted scenarios of global climate change, peatlands may become a net source of greenhouse gases which will accelerate warming of the atmosphere. Comparative studies of peat bogs along present climatic gradients may provide an insight into the future response of boreal and subarctic peatlands to changing temperature and moisture. Three maritime peat bogs in the British Isles, and two high-elevation peatlands in the Czech Republic were studied. All sites were relatively wet, the mean annual temperatures were higher by up to 6 degrees C at the British/Irish sites than at the Czech sites. Cumulative carbon content in (210)Pb-dated Sphagnum-dominated vertical peat cores increased from the warmer to the colder sites when evaluated for the most recent decades (since ca. 1950). That would correspond to formation of thinner, more highly decomposed peat deposits over the long-term in warmer conditions, and deeper peat bogs in colder conditions. However, when cumulative carbon content was evaluated for the last ca. 150 years, no relationship was found between mean annual temperature and the carbon pool size. Even along broad present-day climatic gradients, site-specific factors controlled organic carbon preservation in peat. Pollen analysis was instrumental in corroborating the (210)Pb dates, identifying wet and dry periods in the past, and it also provided evidence for increasing nitrogen loads in wetland areas.