Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes

Ian Thomas Lawson; Thomas Kelly; Paul Aplin; Arnoud Boom; Greta Dargie; Frederick Draper; Zamzam Hassan; Jorge Hoyos-Santillan; Jorg Kaduk; David Large; Wayne Murphy; Susan Page; Katherine Helen Roucoux; Sofie Sjogersten; Kevin Tansey; Matthew Waldram; Beatrice Wedeux; James Wheeler

doi:10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2

Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes

Ian Thomas Lawson, Thomas Kelly, Paul Aplin, Arnoud Boom, Greta Dargie, Frederick Draper, Zamzam Hassan, Jorge Hoyos-Santillan, Jorg Kaduk, David Large, Wayne Murphy, Susan Page, Katherine Helen Roucoux, Sofie Sjogersten, Kevin Tansey, Matthew Waldram, Beatrice Wedeux, James Wheeler

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Our limited knowledge of the size of the carbon pool and exchange fluxes in forested lowland tropical peatlands represents a major gap in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Peat deposits in several regions (e.g. the Congo Basin, much of Amazonia) are only just beginning to be mapped and characterised. Here we consider the extent to which methodological improvements and improved coordination between researchers could help to fill this gap. We review the literature on measurement of the key parameters required to calculate carbon pools and fluxes, including peatland area, peat bulk density, carbon concentration, above-ground carbon stocks, litter inputs to the peat, gaseous carbon exchange, and waterborne carbon fluxes. We identify areas where further research and better coordination are particularly needed in order to reduce the uncertainties in estimates of tropical peatland carbon pools and fluxes, thereby facilitating better-informed management of these exceptionally carbon-rich ecosystems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	327-346
Journal	Wetlands Ecology and Management
Volume	23
Issue number	3
Early online date	3 Jan 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2
Publication status	Published - Jun 2015

Keywords

Peat
Greenhouse gases
Remote sensing
Tropical ecology
Carbon cycle

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Lawson et al WEM manuscript FINAL
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2
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Lawson, I. T., Kelly, T., Aplin, P., Boom, A., Dargie, G., Draper, F., Hassan, Z., Hoyos-Santillan, J., Kaduk, J., Large, D., Murphy, W., Page, S., Roucoux, K. H., Sjogersten, S., Tansey, K., Waldram, M., Wedeux, B., & Wheeler, J. (2015). Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 23(3), 327-346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2

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title = "Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes",

abstract = "Our limited knowledge of the size of the carbon pool and exchange fluxes in forested lowland tropical peatlands represents a major gap in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Peat deposits in several regions (e.g. the Congo Basin, much of Amazonia) are only just beginning to be mapped and characterised. Here we consider the extent to which methodological improvements and improved coordination between researchers could help to fill this gap. We review the literature on measurement of the key parameters required to calculate carbon pools and fluxes, including peatland area, peat bulk density, carbon concentration, above-ground carbon stocks, litter inputs to the peat, gaseous carbon exchange, and waterborne carbon fluxes. We identify areas where further research and better coordination are particularly needed in order to reduce the uncertainties in estimates of tropical peatland carbon pools and fluxes, thereby facilitating better-informed management of these exceptionally carbon-rich ecosystems. ",

keywords = "Peat, Greenhouse gases, Remote sensing, Tropical ecology, Carbon cycle",

author = "Lawson, {Ian Thomas} and Thomas Kelly and Paul Aplin and Arnoud Boom and Greta Dargie and Frederick Draper and Zamzam Hassan and Jorge Hoyos-Santillan and Jorg Kaduk and David Large and Wayne Murphy and Susan Page and Roucoux, {Katherine Helen} and Sofie Sjogersten and Kevin Tansey and Matthew Waldram and Beatrice Wedeux and James Wheeler",

note = "The workshops that led to this article were supported financially by the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham, and the Natural Environment Research Council-funded {\textquoteleft}Earth Observation Technology Cluster{\textquoteright} knowledge exchange initiative ",

year = "2015",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2",

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volume = "23",

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journal = "Wetlands Ecology and Management",

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Lawson, IT, Kelly, T, Aplin, P, Boom, A, Dargie, G, Draper, F, Hassan, Z, Hoyos-Santillan, J, Kaduk, J, Large, D, Murphy, W, Page, S, Roucoux, KH, Sjogersten, S, Tansey, K, Waldram, M, Wedeux, B & Wheeler, J 2015, 'Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes', Wetlands Ecology and Management, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 327-346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2

TY - JOUR

T1 - Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes

AU - Lawson, Ian Thomas

AU - Kelly, Thomas

AU - Aplin, Paul

AU - Boom, Arnoud

AU - Dargie, Greta

AU - Draper, Frederick

AU - Hassan, Zamzam

AU - Hoyos-Santillan, Jorge

AU - Kaduk, Jorg

AU - Large, David

AU - Murphy, Wayne

AU - Page, Susan

AU - Roucoux, Katherine Helen

AU - Sjogersten, Sofie

AU - Tansey, Kevin

AU - Waldram, Matthew

AU - Wedeux, Beatrice

AU - Wheeler, James

N1 - The workshops that led to this article were supported financially by the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham, and the Natural Environment Research Council-funded ‘Earth Observation Technology Cluster’ knowledge exchange initiative

PY - 2015/6

Y1 - 2015/6

N2 - Our limited knowledge of the size of the carbon pool and exchange fluxes in forested lowland tropical peatlands represents a major gap in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Peat deposits in several regions (e.g. the Congo Basin, much of Amazonia) are only just beginning to be mapped and characterised. Here we consider the extent to which methodological improvements and improved coordination between researchers could help to fill this gap. We review the literature on measurement of the key parameters required to calculate carbon pools and fluxes, including peatland area, peat bulk density, carbon concentration, above-ground carbon stocks, litter inputs to the peat, gaseous carbon exchange, and waterborne carbon fluxes. We identify areas where further research and better coordination are particularly needed in order to reduce the uncertainties in estimates of tropical peatland carbon pools and fluxes, thereby facilitating better-informed management of these exceptionally carbon-rich ecosystems.

AB - Our limited knowledge of the size of the carbon pool and exchange fluxes in forested lowland tropical peatlands represents a major gap in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Peat deposits in several regions (e.g. the Congo Basin, much of Amazonia) are only just beginning to be mapped and characterised. Here we consider the extent to which methodological improvements and improved coordination between researchers could help to fill this gap. We review the literature on measurement of the key parameters required to calculate carbon pools and fluxes, including peatland area, peat bulk density, carbon concentration, above-ground carbon stocks, litter inputs to the peat, gaseous carbon exchange, and waterborne carbon fluxes. We identify areas where further research and better coordination are particularly needed in order to reduce the uncertainties in estimates of tropical peatland carbon pools and fluxes, thereby facilitating better-informed management of these exceptionally carbon-rich ecosystems.

KW - Peat

KW - Greenhouse gases

KW - Remote sensing

KW - Tropical ecology

KW - Carbon cycle

U2 - 10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2

DO - 10.1007/s11273-014-9402-2

M3 - Article

SN - 0923-4861

VL - 23

SP - 327

EP - 346

JO - Wetlands Ecology and Management

JF - Wetlands Ecology and Management

IS - 3

ER -

Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes

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Keywords

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