Peatlands are natural ecosystems that provide archives of the hydrological cycle, ecological processes and terrestrial carbon dynamics. In the north-central region of Quebec (eastern Canada), patterned peatlands developed in topographic depressions of the Precambrian Shield following the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat. These peatlands display characteristics similar to appa mires and other peatlands that developed at the ecotone between the open (taiga) and closed boreal forest biomes of the Northern Hemisphere, and also correspond to the biogeographic limit between ombrotrophic and minerotrophic peatlands. During the Neoglacial cooling period in northeastern Canada, patterned peatlands, mainly oligotrophic fens, registered a hydrological disequilibrium expressed by an increase in surface wetness as aquatic microforms expanded to the detriment of terrestrial surfaces. Ecohydrological trajectories were reconstructed from a detailed study of two patterned peatlands in order to document their sensitivity to climate variations. To do this, plant macrofossil and testate amoeba data were combined with peat carbon accumulation rates, C:N ratios, ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C chronologies. Data show that peatlands initiated ca 6500 cal. y BP as ombrotrophic or minerotrophic systems depending on site-specific conditions, followed by a general increase in surface wetness during the Neoglacial cooling until the end of the Little Ice Age. A relatively synchronous ecosystem state shift from oligotrophic to more ombrotrophic conditions was registered at the beginning of the 20th century in central and lateral cores of both study sites, evoking the likely influence of recent warming on peat accumulation. These results suggest a potential northward migration of the biogeographic limit of the ombrotrophic peatland distribution during the 20th century, which could have implications for the role of these ecosystems as C sinks at the continental scale. Overall, these peatlands have stored a mean carbon mass of ca 100 kg m^{− 2}.

泥炭地是自然生态系统，可提供水文循环，生态过程和陆地碳动态的档案。在魁北克的中北部地区（加拿大东部），劳伦特德冰盖撤退后，在前寒武纪盾构的地形洼地中发展了有图案的泥炭地。这些泥炭地的特征类似于在北半球的开放（针叶林）和封闭的北方森林生物群落之间的过渡带发育的Appapires和其他泥炭地，并且还对应于非营养和泥体营养化泥炭地的生物地理极限。在加拿大东北部的新冰期冷却期间，图案化的泥炭地（主要是贫营养的）记录到水文不平衡现象，这是由于水生微观形态扩展至对陆地表面的损害而使表面湿度增加。生态水文轨迹是通过对两个有图案的泥炭地的详细研究而重建的，以证明它们对气候变化的敏感性。为此，将植物大化石和睾丸变形虫的数据与泥炭的碳积累率，C：N比，²¹⁰ Pb和¹⁴ C年代。数据显示，泥炭地启动CA6500卡路里 •BP是总营养型或矿养型系统，具体取决于特定地点的条件，随后在新冰期冷却期间直至小冰期末，表面湿度普遍增加。20世纪初，两个研究中心的中部和侧部核心都记录了相对同步的生态系统状态从贫营养状态向非营养营养状态的转变，这引起了近期变暖对泥炭积累的影响。这些结果表明，在20世纪期间，营养养护泥炭地分布的生物地理极限可能向北迁移，这可能对这些生态系统在碳在大陆范围内下沉的作用产生影响。总体而言，这些都泥炭地存储的平均碳质量CA 100公斤米^-2。