The vegetation history of an Amazonian domed peatland

Kelly, Thomas J.; Lawson, Ian T.; Roucoux, Katherine H.; Baker, Timothy R.; Jones, Timothy D.; Sanderson, Nicole

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.039

Cited by 49 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…The presence of charcoal in the core shows that these ecosystems have been affected by fire on at least three occasions in the last 4,500 years, most probably related to anthropogenic activity (see McMichael, Correa‐Metrio, & Bush, ). This is in contrast to other published records from peatlands in Peruvian Amazonia in which no charcoal has been found (see Kelly et al., ; Roucoux et al., ).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

“…Previous research in the PMFB has included preliminary determinations of peat C content, physical properties, and geochemistry (Lähteenoja & Page, ; Lähteenoja, Ruokolainen, Schulman, & Alvarez, ; Lähteenoja, Ruokolainen, Schulman, & Oinonen, ; Lähteenoja et al., ), remote sensing of peatland ecosystems (Draper et al., ), and palynological studies (Kelly et al., ; Roucoux et al., ). There have also been studies of the ecology and palaeoecology of testate amoebae (Reczuga, Swindles, Grewling, & Lamentowicz, ; Swindles et al., ; Swindles, Lamentowicz, Reczuga, & Galloway, ; Swindles, Morris et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecosystem state shifts during long‐term development of an Amazonian peatland

Swindles

Morris

Whitney

et al. 2017

Global Change Biology

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The most carbon (C)-dense ecosystems of Amazonia are areas characterized by the presence of peatlands. However, Amazonian peatland ecosystems are poorly understood and are threatened by human activities. Here, we present an investigation into long-term ecohydrological controls on C accumulation in an Amazonian peat dome. This site is the oldest peatland yet discovered in Amazonia (peat initiation ca. 8.9 ka BP), and developed in three stages: (i) peat initiated in an abandoned river channel with open water and aquatic plants; (ii) inundated forest swamp; and (iii) raised peat dome (since ca. 3.9 ka BP). Local burning occurred at least three times in the past 4,500 years. Two phases of particularly rapid C accumulation (ca. 6.6-6.1 and ca. 4.9-3.9 ka BP), potentially resulting from increased net primary productivity, were seemingly driven by drier conditions associated with widespread drought events. The association of drought phases with major ecosystem state shifts (open water wetland-forest swamp-peat dome) suggests a potential climatic control on the developmental trajectory of this tropical peatland. A third drought phase centred on ca. 1.8-1.1 ka BP led to markedly reduced C accumulation and potentially a hiatus during the peat dome stage. Our results suggest that future droughts may lead to phases of rapid C accumulation in some inundated tropical peat swamps, although this can lead ultimately to a shift to ombrotrophy and a subsequent return to slower C accumulation. Conversely, in ombrotrophic peat domes, droughts may lead to reduced C accumulation or even net loss of peat. Increased surface wetness at our site in recent decades may reflect a shift towards a wetter climate in western Amazonia. Amazonian peatlands represent important carbon stores and habitats, and are important archives of past climatic and ecological information. They should form key foci for conservation efforts. Here, we present an investigation into the long-term controls on C accumulation in the oldest peatland reported in the Amazon basin.We develop a comprehensive, multiproxy palaeoecological dataset to (i) determine the developmental trajectory of the peatland and (ii) assess the peatland's response to past climate change. A hole was augered at each sampling point and water level measured at regular intervals until it equalized to determine depth to water Approximately one half of each surface litter sample was weighed, oven dried, burnt in a muffle furnace, and reweighed to determine moisture content and loss-on-ignition. The other half was used for analysis of contemporary testate amoebae (see Swindles et al., 2014). | MATERIALS AND METHODS | Study site

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem state shifts during long‐term development of an Amazonian peatland

Swindles

Morris

Whitney

et al. 2017

Global Change Biology

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“…The 210 Pb dating samples were treated at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom (cores SLH, SHL, LLH and LHL) and University of Helsinki, Finland (cores SLL and LLL). A dry c. 0.2–0.5 g subsample from each 1 or 2 cm interval was analysed for 210 Pb activity after spiking with a 209 Po yield tracer; see Kelly et al () and Estop‐Aragonés et al () for detailed procedure. The alpha spectrometry counting was conducted at the University of Exeter for all the cores.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decreased carbon accumulation feedback driven by climate‐induced drying of two southern boreal bogs over recent centuries

Zhang

Väliranta

Piilo

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Northern boreal peatlands are important ecosystems in modulating global biogeochemical cycles, yet their biological communities and related carbon dynamics are highly sensitive to changes in climate. Despite this, the strength and recent direction of these feedbacks are still unclear. The response of boreal peatlands to climate warming has received relatively little attention compared with other northern peatland types, despite forming a large northern hemisphere‐wide ecosystem. Here, we studied the response of two ombrotrophic boreal peatlands to climate variability over the last c. 200 years for which local meteorological data are available. We used remains from plants and testate amoebae to study historical changes in peatland biological communities. These data were supplemented by peat property (bulk density, carbon and nitrogen content), 14C, 210Pb and 137Cs analyses and were used to infer changes in peatland hydrology and carbon dynamics. In total, six peat cores, three per study site, were studied that represent different microhabitats: low hummock (LH), high lawn and low lawn. The data show a consistent drying trend over recent centuries, represented mainly as a change from wet habitat Sphagnum spp. to dry habitat S. fuscum. Summer temperature and precipitation appeared to be important drivers shaping peatland community and surface moisture conditions. Data from the driest microhabitat studied, LH, revealed a clear and strong negative linear correlation (R2 = .5031; p < .001) between carbon accumulation rate and peat surface moisture conditions: under dry conditions, less carbon was accumulated. This suggests that at the dry end of the moisture gradient, availability of water regulates carbon accumulation. It can be further linked to the decreased abundance of mixotrophic testate amoebae under drier conditions (R2 = .4207; p < .001). Our study implies that if effective precipitation decreases in the future, the carbon uptake capacity of boreal bogs may be threatened.

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“…The oldest known peatlands in the Pastaza-Marañón Foreland Basin have been accumulating peat for 8000 yr, but the ombrotrophic conditions associated with peatland pole forest may have only developed over recent centuries (Lähteenoja et al 2012, Kelly et al 2017). The oldest known peatlands in the Pastaza-Marañón Foreland Basin have been accumulating peat for 8000 yr, but the ombrotrophic conditions associated with peatland pole forest may have only developed over recent centuries (Lähteenoja et al 2012, Kelly et al 2017).…”

Section: Patterns Of Alpha-diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The oldest known peatlands in the Pastaza-Marañón Foreland Basin have been accumulating peat for 8000 yr, but the ombrotrophic conditions associated with peatland pole forest may have only developed over recent centuries (Lähteenoja et al 2012, Kelly et al 2017). This explanation is consistent with pollen analysis showing that peatlands in this region have undergone substantial floristic change through their development (Roucoux et al 2013, Draper 2015, Kelly et al 2017. Within this context, Amazonian peatlands may be analogous to an early successional system where species turnover in space or time is fast, but diversity at any one point is relatively low.…”

Section: Patterns Of Alpha-diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Peatland forests are the least diverse tree communities documented in Amazonia, but contribute to high regional beta‐diversity

et al. 2018

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Western Amazonia is known to harbour some of Earth's most diverse forests, but previous floristic analyses have excluded peatland forests which are extensive in northern Peru and are among the most environmentally extreme ecosystems in the lowland tropics. Understanding patterns of tree species diversity in these ecosystems is important both for quantifying beta-diversity in this region, and for understanding determinants of diversity more generally in tropical forests. Here we explore patterns of tree diversity and composition in two peatland forest types -palm swamps and peatland pole forests -using 26 forest plots distributed over a large area of northern Peru. We place our results in a regional context by making comparisons with three other major forest types: terra firme forests (29 plots), white-sand forests (23 plots) and seasonally-flooded forests (11 plots).Peatland forests had extremely low (within-plot) alpha-diversity compared with the other forest types that were sampled. In particular, peatland pole forests had the lowest levels of tree diversity yet recorded in Amazonia (20 species per 500 stems, Fisher's alpha 4.57). However, peatland pole forests and palm swamps were compositionally different from each other as well as from other forest types in the region. Few species appeared to be peatland endemics. Instead, peatland forests were largely characterised by a distinctive combination of generalist species and species previously thought to be specialists of other habitats, especially white-sand forests.We suggest that the transient nature and extreme environmental conditions of Amazonian peatland ecosystems have shaped their current patterns of tree composition and diversity. Despite their low alpha-diversity, the unique combination of species found in tree communities in Amazonian peatlands augment regional beta-diversity. This contribution, alongside their extremely high carbon storage capacity and lack of protection at national level, strengthens their status as a conservation priority.

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The vegetation history of an Amazonian domed peatland

Cited by 49 publications

References 82 publications

Ecosystem state shifts during long‐term development of an Amazonian peatland

Ecosystem state shifts during long‐term development of an Amazonian peatland

Decreased carbon accumulation feedback driven by climate‐induced drying of two southern boreal bogs over recent centuries

Peatland forests are the least diverse tree communities documented in Amazonia, but contribute to high regional beta‐diversity

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