Peatlands occupy 20% of the land area of Ireland and store over half of soil carbon stocks. Over 80% of these peatlands have been disturbed by human activity such as drainage for peat extraction, afforestation and agriculture. In this study, peat samples were collected from 12 horticultural peat extraction sites in the Irish midlands. The carbon (C), nitrogen (N), hydrogen and sulphur content were determined, and from these, the carbon oxidation state (C_ox) and oxidative ratio (OR) were calculated. The carbon oxidation ratio reflects organic matter synthesis and degradation, and is thus an important parameter in understanding terrestrial carbon cycling, whilst OR represents the molar ratio of oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes associated with net ecosystem exchange. Elemental concentrations and ratios were typical for Irish horticultural peat (e.g. carbon concentrations 54%–57%), though showed site to site variability. C_ox and OR values varied between −0.22 and −0.11, and 1.04 and 1.07, respectively, and were comparable to United Kingdom peat soils. All values for OR were lower than 1.1, the value commonly used in global CO₂ partitioning studies. Further research should investigate OR values in peatland which has not been studied to date. Across all sites, measures of increased decomposition (i.e. C/N ratios) significantly correlated with increasing OR reflecting more reduced organic matter. This study provides data in temperate peat soils that increases the coverage of C_ox and OR values and will inform global CO₂ partitioning studies.

中文翻译：

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园艺泥炭元素比和氧化比的表征

泥炭地占爱尔兰土地面积的 20%，储存了一半以上的土壤碳储量。这些泥炭地中超过 80% 已经受到人类活动的干扰，例如泥炭提取、植树造林和农业的排水。在这项研究中，泥炭样品是从爱尔兰中部地区的 12 个园艺泥炭提取点收集的。测定碳(C)、氮(N)、氢和硫的含量，并由此计算碳氧化态(C _ox )和氧化比(OR)。碳氧化比反映了有机物的合成和降解，因此是理解陆地碳循环的重要参数，而 OR 代表氧气 (O ₂ ) 和二氧化碳 (CO ₂) 与净生态系统交换相关的通量。元素浓度和比率对于爱尔兰园艺泥炭来说是典型的（例如碳浓度为 54%–57%），尽管显示了站点间的可变性。C _ox和 OR 值分别在 -0.22 和 -0.11 以及 1.04 和 1.07 之间变化，与英国泥炭土壤相当。OR 的所有值都低于 1.1，这是全球 CO ₂分配研究中常用的值。进一步的研究应该调查迄今为止尚未研究过的泥炭地的 OR 值。在所有地点，分解增加的测量（即 C/N 比）与反映更多减少的有机物的 OR 增加显着相关。这项研究提供了温带泥炭土中增加 C _ox覆盖率的数据和 OR 值，并将为全球 CO ₂分配研究提供信息。