Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex

Dargie, Greta C.; Lewis, Simon L.; Lawson, Ian T.; Mitchard, Edward T. A.; Page, Susan; Bocko, Yannick E.; Ifo, Suspense A.

doi:10.1038/nature21048

Cited by 503 publications

(639 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…Relatively few ground reference points were available from the DRC, or the southern part of the basin within the ROC, which contributes to considerable uncertainty in the estimated carbon stock; 95% confidence intervals for the peat carbon stock estimate range from 6.3 to 46.8 Pg, largely owing to highly variable peat depth. Basal radiocarbon dates indicate that peat began to accumulate during a period of increasing climatic wetness in the early Holocene (the African Humid Period; Shanahan et al 2015), beginning approximately 10,600 calendar years before present (BP, present defined as 1950; Dargie et al 2017). Hydrological and geochemical data indicate that at present, rainfall makes a substantial direct contribution to the water balance of the sites that have been studied; flooding by rivers appears to be of secondary importance (Dargie et al 2017).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Congo Basin peatlands appear to depend largely on rainfall to maintain a positive water balance (Dargie et al 2017). The bimodal climate of the Congo Basin, with two wet seasons per year (March to May, September to November; Samba et al 2008), means that the peatlands do not experience prolonged dry periods.…”

Section: Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent scientific research in the Cuvette Centrale by Dargie et al (2017) has focused on providing a first estimate of carbon storage and the distribution of peat. Peat and the overlying vegetation was sampled along 57.5 km of transects, distributed across a wide area of the basin west of the Ubangui river in the ROC.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Basal radiocarbon dates indicate that peat began to accumulate during a period of increasing climatic wetness in the early Holocene (the African Humid Period; Shanahan et al 2015), beginning approximately 10,600 calendar years before present (BP, present defined as 1950; Dargie et al 2017). Hydrological and geochemical data indicate that at present, rainfall makes a substantial direct contribution to the water balance of the sites that have been studied; flooding by rivers appears to be of secondary importance (Dargie et al 2017). Despite these advances in our knowledge of present-day carbon storage, there are still large gaps in our understanding of these ecosystems, including their topography and hydrology, past and present carbon storage dynamics and the past and present ecology of the hardwood and palm swamps associated with peat ( Fig.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent research suggests that many of the swamp forests that occupy the basin are underlain by peat spanning an estimated 145,500 km 2 , that store ca. 30.6 petagrams (Pg; 1 × 10 15 g) of carbon (Dargie et al 2017). This makes the Cuvette Centrale-spanning both the Republic of Congo (ROC) and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)-the single largest peatland complex known in the tropics (Dargie et al 2017), with a belowground carbon stock equivalent to that of the aboveground tropical forest carbon stocks for the entire Congo Basin (Saatchi et al 2011;Verhegghen et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Dargie

Lawson

Rayden

et al. 2018

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

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The recent publication of the first spatially explicit map of peatlands in the Cuvette Centrale, central Congo Basin, reveals it to be the most extensive tropical peatland complex, at ca. 145,500 km 2 . With an estimated 30.6 Pg of carbon stored in these peatlands, there are now questions about whether these carbon stocks are under threat and, if so, what can be done to protect them. Here, we analyse the potential threats to Congo Basin peat carbon stocks and identify knowledge gaps in relation to these threats, and to how the peatland systems might respond. Climate change emerges as a particularly pressing concern, given its potential to destabilise carbon stocks across the whole area. Socio-economic developments are increasing across central Africa and, whilst much of the peatland area is protected on paper by some form of conservation designation, the potential exists for hydrocarbon exploration, logging, plantations and other forms of disturbance to significantly damage the peatland ecosystems. The low level of human intervention at present suggests that the opportunity still exists to protect the peatlands in a largely intact state, possibly drawing on climate change mitigation

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Dargie

Lawson

Rayden

et al. 2018

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

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Sundaland Peat Carbon Dynamics and Its Contribution to the Holocene Atmospheric CO₂ Concentration

Abrams

Hohn

Rixen

et al. 2018

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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The Sunda Shelf is a large submerged extension of the continental shelf of mainland Asia, joining the islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra and forming the shallow seabed of the South China Sea. Recent studies identified present‐day peatlands in Southeast Asia as a globally important carbon reservoir. However, little is known about Sundaland paleopeatlands and their role in the global carbon cycle since the Last Glacial Maximum. Using a topography‐based, sea level‐driven model, we estimate the potential spatial extent of peatlands during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene across the low‐lying Sundaland plains. We then use the estimated peatland area together with data on carbon accumulation rates to calculate the total peat carbon pool on the Sunda Shelf. Finally, using a global biogeochemical model, we analyze the relative influence of the predicted Sundaland peat dynamics and other carbon change mechanisms, specifically high‐latitude forest growth and peat formation, shallow sea carbonate deposition, ocean warming, and combinations of them, on the global carbon cycle of the Holocene. We identify a feedback mechanism between sea level and peatland carbon sequestration in Sundaland that reduced atmospheric CO2 concentration by about 4–5 ppm and increased δ13C by 0.05‰ during the Holocene. We also show that a concurrence of mechanisms that includes Sundaland peat dynamics produces model results that are consistent with proxy records, especially with respect to δ13C.

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Terrestrial Sediments of the Earth: Development of a Global Unconsolidated Sediments Map Database (GUM)

Börker

Hartmann

Amann

et al. 2018

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Mapped unconsolidated sediments cover half of the global land surface. They are of considerable importance for many Earth surface processes like weathering, hydrological fluxes or biogeochemical cycles. Ignoring their characteristics or spatial extent may lead to misinterpretations in Earth System studies. Therefore, a new Global Unconsolidated Sediments Map database (GUM) was compiled, using regional maps specifically representing unconsolidated and quaternary sediments. The new GUM database provides insights into the regional distribution of unconsolidated sediments and their properties. The GUM comprises 911,551 polygons and describes not only sediment types and subtypes, but also parameters like grain size, mineralogy, age and thickness where available. Previous global lithological maps or databases lacked detail for reported unconsolidated sediment areas or missed large areas, and reported a global coverage of 25 to 30%, considering the ice‐free land area. Here, alluvial sediments cover about 23% of the mapped total ice‐free area, followed by aeolian sediments (∼21%), glacial sediments (∼20%), and colluvial sediments (∼16%). A specific focus during the creation of the database was on the distribution of loess deposits, since loess is highly reactive and relevant to understand geochemical cycles related to dust deposition and weathering processes. An additional layer compiling pyroclastic sediment is added, which merges consolidated and unconsolidated pyroclastic sediments. The compilation shows latitudinal abundances of sediment types related to climate of the past. The GUM database is available at the PANGAEA database (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.884822).

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Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex

Cited by 503 publications

References 36 publications

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Sundaland Peat Carbon Dynamics and Its Contribution to the Holocene Atmospheric CO₂ Concentration

Terrestrial Sediments of the Earth: Development of a Global Unconsolidated Sediments Map Database (GUM)

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Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex

Cited by 503 publications

References 36 publications

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Sundaland Peat Carbon Dynamics and Its Contribution to the Holocene Atmospheric CO2 Concentration

Terrestrial Sediments of the Earth: Development of a Global Unconsolidated Sediments Map Database (GUM)

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Sundaland Peat Carbon Dynamics and Its Contribution to the Holocene Atmospheric CO₂ Concentration