Alpine Peatland FLUXNET Release 2026_r1 

This release consists of flux tower measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer using eddy covariance techniques. Data were processed using PyFluxPro as described by Isaac et al. (2017) for the quality control and post-processing steps. The final, gap-filled product containing Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) partitioned into Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (ER) has been produced using the ONEFlux software as described in Pastorello et al (2020). This data set has been produced as part of the FLUXNET Shuttle project.
The Alpine Peatland flux station is located on the Bogong High Plains near Falls Creek in the Victorian Alpine National Parks. It was established in 2017 and is managed by RMIT University. The Alpine Peatland flux station is supported by RMIT University, and CSIRO Environment.

The vegetation community is Alpine Sphagnum peatland, also known as Closed Heath, composed of Sphagnum moss (Sphagnum cristatum) in association with candle heath (Richea continentis), alpine baeckea (Baeckea gunniana) and rope rush (Empodisma minus). The underlying soil is peat. Elevation of the site is 1670m and mean annual precipitation is 1274mm. Mean annual average minimum and maximum temperatures are 2.6°C and 9.4°C and the area is snow covered for an average of 3 months per year.

The Victorian Alpine National Park is managed for conservation, tourism and as a water catchment for hydroelectricity production. Historic disturbance includes grazing, fire and infrastructure development. 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 

The purpose of the Alpine Peatland flux station is to:
1) measure the exchange of carbon dioxide, water vapour and energy between an alpine peatland ecosystem and the atmosphere using micrometeorological techniques
2) support an understanding of the ecohydrology of a little-studied wetland ecosystem
3) support national parks land managers to better understand peatland ecosystem function, specifically in relation to soil carbon sequestration processes, catchment hydrology and evaporation
4) support an understanding of the impacts of global warming on ecosystem processes (such as photosynthesis, respiration or changes in ecohydrology)
5) provide a contextual basis for understanding patterns of alpine plant and animal biodiversity (e.g. abiotic factors)
6) utilise the measurements for parameterising and validating remote sensing measurements over mountain ecosystems
7) utilise the measurements for parameterising and validating the Earth System models to better understand the effects of climate change.
 

Data not provided.