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The distribution and amount of carbon in the largest peatland complex in Amazonia

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Draper_et_al_2014_Env_Res_Lett_Peru_C_map.pdf (2.006Mb)
Date
15/12/2014
Author
Draper, Frederick
Roucoux, Katherine Helen
Lawson, Ian Thomas
Mitchard, Edward
Honorio Coronado, Euridice
Lahteenoja, Outi
Torres Montenegro, Luis
Valderrama Sandoval, Elvis
Zarate, Ricardo
Baker, Timothy
Keywords
Tropical peatland
Remote sensing
Vegetation
Carbon
Peru
Biomass
Amazon
GE Environmental Sciences
BDC
R2C
Metadata
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Abstract
Peatlands in Amazonian Peru are known to store large quantities of carbon, but there is high uncertainty in the spatial extent and total carbon stocks of these ecosystems. Here, we use a multi-sensor (Landsat, ALOS PALSAR and SRTM) remote sensing approach, together with field data including 24 forest census plots and 218 peat thickness measurements, to map the distribution of peatland vegetation types and calculate the combined above- and below-ground carbon stock of peatland ecosystems in the Pastaza-Marañon foreland basin in Peru. We find that peatlands cover 35 600 ± 2133 km2 and contain 3.14 (0.44–8.15) Pg C. Variation in peat thickness and bulk density are the most important sources of uncertainty in these values. One particular ecosystem type, peatland pole forest, is found to be the most carbon-dense ecosystem yet identified in Amazonia (1391 ± 710 Mg C ha−1). The novel approach of combining optical and radar remote sensing with above- and below-ground carbon inventories is recommended for developing regional carbon estimates for tropical peatlands globally. Finally, we suggest that Amazonian peatlands should be a priority for research and conservation before the developing regional infrastructure causes an acceleration in the exploitation and degradation of these ecosystems.
Citation
Draper , F , Roucoux , K H , Lawson , I T , Mitchard , E , Honorio Coronado , E , Lahteenoja , O , Torres Montenegro , L , Valderrama Sandoval , E , Zarate , R & Baker , T 2014 , ' The distribution and amount of carbon in the largest peatland complex in Amazonia ' , Environmental Research Letters , vol. 9 , no. 12 , 124017 . https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/12/124017
Publication
Environmental Research Letters
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/12/124017
ISSN
1748-9326
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Description
This work was funded by NERC grants NE/I021217/1 and NE/J50001X/1.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/9/12/124017/media
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5989

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