Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data

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dc.contributor.authorCrezee , Bart
dc.contributor.authorDargie, Greta C.
dc.contributor.authorEwango, Corneille E. N.
dc.contributor.authorMitchard , Edward T. A.
dc.contributor.authorEmba B, Ovide
dc.contributor.authorKanyama T, Joseph
dc.contributor.authorBola, Pierre
dc.contributor.authorNdjango, Jean-Bosco N.
dc.contributor.authorGirkin, Nicholas T.
dc.contributor.authorBocko, Yannick E.
dc.contributor.authorIfo, Suspense A.
dc.contributor.authorHubau , Wannes
dc.contributor.authorSeidensticker , Dirk
dc.contributor.authorBatumike, Rodrigue
dc.contributor.authorImani , Gérard
dc.contributor.authorCuní-Sanchez, Aida
dc.contributor.authorKiahtipes , Christopher A.
dc.contributor.authorLebamba, Judicaël
dc.contributor.authorWotzka, Hans-Peter
dc.contributor.authorBean, Hollie
dc.contributor.authorBaker , Timothy R.
dc.contributor.authorBaird , Andy J.
dc.contributor.authorBoom , Arnoud
dc.contributor.authorMorris , Paul J.
dc.contributor.authorPage, Susan E.
dc.contributor.authorLawson, Ian T.
dc.contributor.authorLewis , Simon L.
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-29T11:52:12Z
dc.date.available2022-07-29T11:52:12Z
dc.date.issued2022-07-21
dc.description.abstractThe world’s largest tropical peatland complex is found in the central Congo Basin. However, there is a lack of in situ measurements to understand the peatland’s distribution and the amount of carbon stored in it. So far, peat in this region has been sampled only in largely rain-fed interfluvial basins in the north of the Republic of the Congo. Here we present the first extensive field surveys of peat in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which covers two-thirds of the estimated peatland area, including from previously undocumented river-influenced settings. We use field data from both countries to compute the first spatial models of peat thickness (mean 1.7 ± 0.9 m; maximum 5.6 m) and peat carbon density (mean 1,712 ± 634 MgC ha−1; maximum 3,970 MgC ha−1) for the central Congo Basin. We show that the peatland complex covers 167,600 km2, 36% of the world’s tropical peatland area, and that 29.0 PgC is stored below ground in peat across the region (95% confidence interval, 26.3–32.2 PgC). Our measurement-based constraints give high confidence of globally significant peat carbon stocks in the central Congo Basin, totalling approximately 28% of the world’s tropical peat carbon. Only 8% of this peat carbon lies within nationally protected areas, suggesting its vulnerability to future land-use change.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationCrezee B, Dargie GC, Ewango CE, et al., (2022) Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data, Nature Geoscience, Volume 15, Issue 8, August 2022, pp. 639-644en_UK
dc.identifier.eissn1752-0908
dc.identifier.issn1752-0894
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/18260
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherSpringer Natureen_UK
dc.subjectCarbon cycleen_UK
dc.subjectFreshwater ecologyen_UK
dc.subjectHydrologyen_UK
dc.subjectTropical ecologyen_UK
dc.titleMapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field dataen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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