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

Bart Crezee; Greta C. Dargie; Corneille E.N. Ewango; Edward T.A. Mitchard; Ovide Emba B; Joseph Kanyama T; Pierre Bola; Jean Bosco N. Ndjango; Nicholas T. Girkin; Yannick E. Bocko; Suspense A. Ifo; Wannes Hubau; Dirk Seidensticker; Rodrigue Batumike; Gérard Imani; Aida Cuní-Sanchez; Christopher A. Kiahtipes; Judicaël Lebamba; Hans Peter Wotzka; Hollie Bean; Timothy R. Baker; Andy J. Baird; Arnoud Boom; Paul J. Morris; Susan E. Page; Ian T. Lawson; Simon L. Lewis

doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7

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

Bart Crezee^*, Greta C. Dargie, Corneille E.N. Ewango, Edward T.A. Mitchard, Ovide Emba B, Joseph Kanyama T, Pierre Bola, Jean Bosco N. Ndjango, Nicholas T. Girkin, Yannick E. Bocko, Suspense A. Ifo, Wannes Hubau, Dirk Seidensticker, Rodrigue Batumike, Gérard Imani, Aida Cuní-Sanchez, Christopher A. Kiahtipes, Judicaël Lebamba, Hans Peter Wotzka, Hollie BeanTimothy R. Baker, Andy J. Baird, Arnoud Boom, Paul J. Morris, Susan E. Page, Ian T. Lawson, Simon L. Lewis

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

Abstract

The 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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	639-644
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Volume	15
Early online date	21 Jul 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2022

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10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7

Crezee_2022_NG_Mapping-peat-thickness_AAM
Copyright © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7.
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Crezee_2022_NG_Mapping-peat-thickness_SIAccepted author manuscript, 627 KB

1 Finished

CongoPeat: CongoPeat: Past, present and future of the peatlands of the central Congo basin
Lawson, I. T. (PI)
1/09/18 → 31/08/23
Project: Standard

Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data (code)
Lawson, I. T. (Creator), GitHub, 2022
https://github.com/CongoPeat/Peatland-mapping.git
Dataset: Software

1 Comment/debate

Author correction to "Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data" (Nature Geoscience, 2022,10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7)
Crezee, B., Dargie, G. C., Ewango, C. E. N., Mitchard, E. T. A., Emba B, O., Kanyama T, J., Bola, P., Ndjango, J. B. N., Girkin, N. T., Bocko, Y. E., Ifo, S. A., Hubau, W., Seidensticker, D., Batumike, R., Imani, G., Cuní-Sanchez, A., Kiahtipes, C. A., Lebamba, J., Wotzka, H. P. & Bean, H. & 7 others, Baker, T. R., Baird, A. J., Boom, A., Morris, P. J., Page, S. E., Lawson, I. T. & Lewis, S. L., 1 Oct 2022, In: Nature Geoscience. 15, p. 854 1 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

Open Access

Cite this

Crezee, B., Dargie, G. C., Ewango, C. E. N., Mitchard, E. T. A., Emba B, O., Kanyama T, J., Bola, P., Ndjango, J. B. N., Girkin, N. T., Bocko, Y. E., Ifo, S. A., Hubau, W., Seidensticker, D., Batumike, R., Imani, G., Cuní-Sanchez, A., Kiahtipes, C. A., Lebamba, J., Wotzka, H. P., ... Lewis, S. L. (2022). Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data. Nature Geoscience, 15, 639-644. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7

@article{032840fddec544bb8f150404af26c935,

title = "Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data",

abstract = "The world{\textquoteright}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{\textquoteright}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{\textquoteright}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{\textquoteright}s tropical peat carbon. Only 8% of this peat carbon lies within nationally protected areas, suggesting its vulnerability to future land-use change.",

author = "Bart Crezee and Dargie, {Greta C.} and Ewango, {Corneille E.N.} and Mitchard, {Edward T.A.} and {Emba B}, Ovide and {Kanyama T}, Joseph and Pierre Bola and Ndjango, {Jean Bosco N.} and Girkin, {Nicholas T.} and Bocko, {Yannick E.} and Ifo, {Suspense A.} and Wannes Hubau and Dirk Seidensticker and Rodrigue Batumike and G{\'e}rard Imani and Aida Cun{\'i}-Sanchez and Kiahtipes, {Christopher A.} and Judica{\"e}l Lebamba and Wotzka, {Hans Peter} and Hollie Bean and Baker, {Timothy R.} and Baird, {Andy J.} and Arnoud Boom and Morris, {Paul J.} and Page, {Susan E.} and Lawson, {Ian T.} and Lewis, {Simon L.}",

note = "Funding: The work was funded by a NERC Large Grant to S.L.L. ({\textquoteleft}CongoPeat{\textquoteright}, NE/R016860/1), a NERC Doctoral Training Partnership award to B.C. ({\textquoteleft}SPHERES DTP{\textquoteright}, NE/L002574/1) and a Greenpeace Fund award to S.L.L. JAXA, NASA, METI, USGS, ESA, OSFAC and WWF are acknowledged for collecting and/or processing remote-sensing data.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7",

language = "English",

volume = "15",

pages = "639--644",

journal = "Nature Geoscience",

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Crezee, B, Dargie, GC, Ewango, CEN, Mitchard, ETA, Emba B, O, Kanyama T, J, Bola, P, Ndjango, JBN, Girkin, NT, Bocko, YE, Ifo, SA, Hubau, W, Seidensticker, D, Batumike, R, Imani, G, Cuní-Sanchez, A, Kiahtipes, CA, Lebamba, J, Wotzka, HP, Bean, H, Baker, TR, Baird, AJ, Boom, A, Morris, PJ, Page, SE, Lawson, IT & Lewis, SL 2022, 'Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data', Nature Geoscience, vol. 15, pp. 639-644. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data

AU - Crezee, Bart

AU - Dargie, Greta C.

AU - Ewango, Corneille E.N.

AU - Mitchard, Edward T.A.

AU - Emba B, Ovide

AU - Kanyama T, Joseph

AU - Bola, Pierre

AU - Ndjango, Jean Bosco N.

AU - Girkin, Nicholas T.

AU - Bocko, Yannick E.

AU - Ifo, Suspense A.

AU - Hubau, Wannes

AU - Seidensticker, Dirk

AU - Batumike, Rodrigue

AU - Imani, Gérard

AU - Cuní-Sanchez, Aida

AU - Kiahtipes, Christopher A.

AU - Lebamba, Judicaël

AU - Wotzka, Hans Peter

AU - Bean, Hollie

AU - Baker, Timothy R.

AU - Baird, Andy J.

AU - Boom, Arnoud

AU - Morris, Paul J.

AU - Page, Susan E.

AU - Lawson, Ian T.

AU - Lewis, Simon L.

N1 - Funding: The work was funded by a NERC Large Grant to S.L.L. (‘CongoPeat’, NE/R016860/1), a NERC Doctoral Training Partnership award to B.C. (‘SPHERES DTP’, NE/L002574/1) and a Greenpeace Fund award to S.L.L. JAXA, NASA, METI, USGS, ESA, OSFAC and WWF are acknowledged for collecting and/or processing remote-sensing data.

PY - 2022/8/1

Y1 - 2022/8/1

N2 - The 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.

AB - The 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.

U2 - 10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7

DO - 10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85134661306

SN - 1752-0894

VL - 15

SP - 639

EP - 644

JO - Nature Geoscience

JF - Nature Geoscience

ER -

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

Abstract

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CongoPeat: CongoPeat: Past, present and future of the peatlands of the central Congo basin