Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327422 July 23, 2025 6 / 16 9 cm. Fitting a Gaussian Response Curve and Generalized Additive Model to the data suggests that the optimal WTD for the highest aPAR is 10.0 cm for both models (Fig 5). However, the Generalized Additive Model was not statistically signif- icant, and it is worth noting that the estimated optimal water table depth (WTD) is close to the overall mean of the WTD data (10.4 cm). aPAR is generally low when water table depths are < 0 cm (standing water) or > 25 cm. Site number Site name Region Country Latitude Longitude Reference 27 Tăul Muced Continental Europe Romania 47.5739 24.5450 Feurdean et al. (2015) The Holocene 25, 1179–1192. 28 Männikjärve NE Europe Estonia 58.8667 26.2500 Väliranta et al. (2012) Quaternary International 268, 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327422.t001 Fig 2. Boxplot showing aPAR for each site. Blue triangles indicate the mean values for each site. The blue line indicates the average of site means (0.118 cm yr-1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327422.g002 Table 1. (Continued)