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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor
Global Change Biology, Volume 23, No. 9, Year 2017
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Description
Wetlands are important providers of ecosystem services and key regulators of climate change. They positively contribute to global warming through their greenhouse gas emissions, and negatively through the accumulation of organic material in histosols, particularly in peatlands. Our understanding of wetlands’ services is currently constrained by limited knowledge on their distribution, extent, volume, interannual flood variability and disturbance levels. We present an expert system approach to estimate wetland and peatland areas, depths and volumes, which relies on three biophysical indices related to wetland and peat formation: (1) long-term water supply exceeding atmospheric water demand; (2) annually or seasonally water-logged soils; and (3) a geomorphological position where water is supplied and retained. Tropical and subtropical wetlands estimates reach 4.7 million km2 (Mkm2). In line with current understanding, the American continent is the major contributor (45%), and Brazil, with its Amazonian interfluvial region, contains the largest tropical wetland area (800,720 km2). Our model suggests, however, unprecedented extents and volumes of peatland in the tropics (1.7 Mkm2 and 7,268 (6,076–7,368) km3), which more than threefold current estimates. Unlike current understanding, our estimates suggest that South America and not Asia contributes the most to tropical peatland area and volume (ca. 44% for both) partly related to some yet unaccounted extended deep deposits but mainly to extended but shallow peat in the Amazon Basin. Brazil leads the peatland area and volume contribution. Asia hosts 38% of both tropical peat area and volume with Indonesia as the main regional contributor and still the holder of the deepest and most extended peat areas in the tropics. Africa hosts more peat than previously reported but climatic and topographic contexts leave it as the least peat-forming continent. Our results suggest large biases in our current understanding of the distribution, area and volumes of tropical peat and their continental contributions. © 2017 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Gumbricht, Thomas
Indonesia, Bogor
Center for International Forestry Research, West Java
Sweden, Stockholm
Karttur ab
Román-Cuesta, Rosa María
Indonesia, Bogor
Center for International Forestry Research, West Java
Netherlands, Wageningen
Wageningen University & Research
Verchot, Louis Vincent
Colombia, Cali
Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical
United States, New York
Columbia University
Herold, M.
Netherlands, Wageningen
Wageningen University & Research
Murdiyarso, Daniel
Indonesia, Bogor
Center for International Forestry Research, West Java
Indonesia, Bogor
Ipb University
Statistics
Citations: 217
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 7
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/gcb.13689
ISSN:
13541013
Research Areas
Environmental