Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru

Adam Hastie; Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado; José Reyna; Edward T. A. Mitchard; Christine M. Åkesson; Timothy R. Baker; Lydia E. S. Cole; César. J. Córdova Oroche; Greta Dargie; Nállarett Dávila; Elsa Carla De Grandi; Jhon Del Águila; Dennis Del Castillo Torres; Ricardo De La Cruz Paiva; Frederick C. Draper; Gerardo Flores; Julio Grández; Kristell Hergoualc’h; J. Ethan Householder; John P. Janovec; Outi Lähteenoja; David Reyna; Pedro Rodríguez-Veiga; Katherine H. Roucoux; Mathias Tobler; Charlotte E. Wheeler; Mathew Williams; Ian T. Lawson

doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4

Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru

Adam Hastie^*, Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado, José Reyna, Edward T. A. Mitchard, Christine M. Åkesson, Timothy R. Baker, Lydia E. S. Cole, César. J. Córdova Oroche, Greta Dargie, Nállarett Dávila, Elsa Carla De Grandi, Jhon Del Águila, Dennis Del Castillo Torres, Ricardo De La Cruz Paiva, Frederick C. Draper, Gerardo Flores, Julio Grández, Kristell Hergoualc’h, J. Ethan Householder, John P. JanovecOuti Lähteenoja, David Reyna, Pedro Rodríguez-Veiga, Katherine H. Roucoux, Mathias Tobler, Charlotte E. Wheeler, Mathew Williams, Ian T. Lawson

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

Abstract

Tropical peatlands are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems but land-use change has led to the loss of large peatland areas, associated with substantial greenhouse gas emissions. To design effective conservation and restoration policies, maps of the location and carbon storage of tropical peatlands are vital. This is especially so in countries such as Peru where the distribution of its large, hydrologically intact peatlands is poorly known. Here field and remote sensing data support the model development of peatland extent and thickness for lowland Peruvian Amazonia. We estimate a peatland area of 62,714 km² (5th and 95th confidence interval percentiles of 58,325 and 67,102 km², respectively) and carbon stock of 5.4 (2.6–10.6) PgC, a value approaching the entire above-ground carbon stock of Peru but contained within just 5% of its land area. Combining the map of peatland extent with national land-cover data we reveal small but growing areas of deforestation and associated CO₂ emissions from peat decomposition due to conversion to mining, urban areas and agriculture. The emissions from peatland areas classified as forest in 2000 represent 1–4% of Peruvian CO₂ forest emissions between 2000 and 2016. We suggest that bespoke monitoring, protection and sustainable management of tropical peatlands are required to avoid further degradation and CO₂ emissions.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Volume	First Online
Early online date	14 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 14 Apr 2022

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10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4

Hastie_2022_NG_Risks-carbon-storage_AAM
Copyright © Crown 2022. 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/s41561-022-00923-4
Accepted author manuscript, 1.23 MBLicence: CC BY

Peatland resilience: Knowledge exchange: Peatland resilience: Knowledge exchange for the conservation and sustainable management of forested tropical peatlands
Honorio Coronado, E. N. (PI)
NERC
13/10/21 → 12/10/24
Project: Fellowship
Valuing Intact Tropical Peatlands: Valuing Intact Tropical Peatlands: An Interdisciplinary Challenge
Roucoux, K. (PI), Davies, A. (CoI) & Laurie, N. (CoI)
The Leverhulme Trust
7/01/19 → 2/08/22
Project: Standard
Carbon storage in Amazonian peatlands: Carbon storage in Amazonian peatlands: distribution and dynamics
Lawson, I. T. (PI) & Roucoux, K. (CoI)
NERC
1/12/17 → 28/02/22
Project: Standard

Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru (dataset)
Honorio Coronado, E. N. (Creator), Cole, L. (Creator) & Lawson, I. T. (Creator), University of Edinburgh, 15 Apr 2022
https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283/4364
Dataset

Cite this

Hastie, A., Honorio Coronado, E. N., Reyna, J., Mitchard, E. T. A., Åkesson, C. M., Baker, T. R., Cole, L. E. S., Oroche, C. J. C., Dargie, G., Dávila, N., De Grandi, E. C., Del Águila, J., Del Castillo Torres, D., De La Cruz Paiva, R., Draper, F. C., Flores, G., Grández, J., Hergoualc’h, K., Householder, J. E., ... Lawson, I. T. (2022). Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru. Nature Geoscience, First Online. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4

@article{fbc1b2161f4240c9ba66531bad6e66be,

title = "Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru",

abstract = "Tropical peatlands are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems but land-use change has led to the loss of large peatland areas, associated with substantial greenhouse gas emissions. To design effective conservation and restoration policies, maps of the location and carbon storage of tropical peatlands are vital. This is especially so in countries such as Peru where the distribution of its large, hydrologically intact peatlands is poorly known. Here field and remote sensing data support the model development of peatland extent and thickness for lowland Peruvian Amazonia. We estimate a peatland area of 62,714 km2 (5th and 95th confidence interval percentiles of 58,325 and 67,102 km2, respectively) and carbon stock of 5.4 (2.6–10.6) PgC, a value approaching the entire above-ground carbon stock of Peru but contained within just 5% of its land area. Combining the map of peatland extent with national land-cover data we reveal small but growing areas of deforestation and associated CO2 emissions from peat decomposition due to conversion to mining, urban areas and agriculture. The emissions from peatland areas classified as forest in 2000 represent 1–4% of Peruvian CO2 forest emissions between 2000 and 2016. We suggest that bespoke monitoring, protection and sustainable management of tropical peatlands are required to avoid further degradation and CO2 emissions.",

author = "Adam Hastie and {Honorio Coronado}, {Eur{\'i}dice N.} and Jos{\'e} Reyna and Mitchard, {Edward T. A.} and {\AA}kesson, {Christine M.} and Baker, {Timothy R.} and Cole, {Lydia E. S.} and Oroche, {C{\'e}sar. J. C{\'o}rdova} and Greta Dargie and N{\'a}llarett D{\'a}vila and {De Grandi}, {Elsa Carla} and {Del {\'A}guila}, Jhon and {Del Castillo Torres}, Dennis and {De La Cruz Paiva}, Ricardo and Draper, {Frederick C.} and Gerardo Flores and Julio Gr{\'a}ndez and Kristell Hergoualc{\textquoteright}h and Householder, {J. Ethan} and Janovec, {John P.} and Outi L{\"a}hteenoja and David Reyna and Pedro Rodr{\'i}guez-Veiga and Roucoux, {Katherine H.} and Mathias Tobler and Wheeler, {Charlotte E.} and Mathew Williams and Lawson, {Ian T.}",

note = "This work was funded by NERC (grant ref. NE/R000751/1) to I.T.L., A.H., K.H.R., E.T.A.M., C.M.A., T.R.B., G.D. and E.C.D.G.; Leverhulme Trust (grant ref. RPG-2018-306) to K.H.R., L.E.S.C. and C.E.W.; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant no. 5439, MonANPeru network) to T.R.B., E.N.H.C. and G.F.; Wildlife Conservation Society to E.N.H.C.; Concytec/British Council/Embajada Brit{\'a}nica Lima/Newton Fund (grant ref. 220–2018) to E.N.H.C. and J.D.; Concytec/NERC/Embajada Brit{\'a}nica Lima/Newton Fund (grant ref. 001–2019) to E.N.H.C. and N.D.; the governments of the United States (grant no. MTO-069018) and Norway (grant agreement no. QZA-12/0882) to K.H.; and NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship (grant ref no. NE/V018760/1) to E.N.H.C.",

year = "2022",

month = apr,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4",

language = "English",

volume = "First Online",

journal = "Nature Geoscience",

issn = "1752-0908",

publisher = "Nature publishing group",

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Hastie, A, Honorio Coronado, EN, Reyna, J, Mitchard, ETA, Åkesson, CM, Baker, TR, Cole, LES, Oroche, CJC, Dargie, G, Dávila, N, De Grandi, EC, Del Águila, J, Del Castillo Torres, D, De La Cruz Paiva, R, Draper, FC, Flores, G, Grández, J, Hergoualc’h, K, Householder, JE, Janovec, JP, Lähteenoja, O, Reyna, D, Rodríguez-Veiga, P, Roucoux, KH, Tobler, M, Wheeler, CE, Williams, M & Lawson, IT 2022, 'Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru', Nature Geoscience, vol. First Online. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4

TY - JOUR

T1 - Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru

AU - Hastie, Adam

AU - Honorio Coronado, Eurídice N.

AU - Reyna, José

AU - Mitchard, Edward T. A.

AU - Åkesson, Christine M.

AU - Baker, Timothy R.

AU - Cole, Lydia E. S.

AU - Oroche, César. J. Córdova

AU - Dargie, Greta

AU - Dávila, Nállarett

AU - De Grandi, Elsa Carla

AU - Del Águila, Jhon

AU - Del Castillo Torres, Dennis

AU - De La Cruz Paiva, Ricardo

AU - Draper, Frederick C.

AU - Flores, Gerardo

AU - Grández, Julio

AU - Hergoualc’h, Kristell

AU - Householder, J. Ethan

AU - Janovec, John P.

AU - Lähteenoja, Outi

AU - Reyna, David

AU - Rodríguez-Veiga, Pedro

AU - Roucoux, Katherine H.

AU - Tobler, Mathias

AU - Wheeler, Charlotte E.

AU - Williams, Mathew

AU - Lawson, Ian T.

N1 - This work was funded by NERC (grant ref. NE/R000751/1) to I.T.L., A.H., K.H.R., E.T.A.M., C.M.A., T.R.B., G.D. and E.C.D.G.; Leverhulme Trust (grant ref. RPG-2018-306) to K.H.R., L.E.S.C. and C.E.W.; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant no. 5439, MonANPeru network) to T.R.B., E.N.H.C. and G.F.; Wildlife Conservation Society to E.N.H.C.; Concytec/British Council/Embajada Británica Lima/Newton Fund (grant ref. 220–2018) to E.N.H.C. and J.D.; Concytec/NERC/Embajada Británica Lima/Newton Fund (grant ref. 001–2019) to E.N.H.C. and N.D.; the governments of the United States (grant no. MTO-069018) and Norway (grant agreement no. QZA-12/0882) to K.H.; and NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship (grant ref no. NE/V018760/1) to E.N.H.C.

PY - 2022/4/14

Y1 - 2022/4/14

N2 - Tropical peatlands are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems but land-use change has led to the loss of large peatland areas, associated with substantial greenhouse gas emissions. To design effective conservation and restoration policies, maps of the location and carbon storage of tropical peatlands are vital. This is especially so in countries such as Peru where the distribution of its large, hydrologically intact peatlands is poorly known. Here field and remote sensing data support the model development of peatland extent and thickness for lowland Peruvian Amazonia. We estimate a peatland area of 62,714 km2 (5th and 95th confidence interval percentiles of 58,325 and 67,102 km2, respectively) and carbon stock of 5.4 (2.6–10.6) PgC, a value approaching the entire above-ground carbon stock of Peru but contained within just 5% of its land area. Combining the map of peatland extent with national land-cover data we reveal small but growing areas of deforestation and associated CO2 emissions from peat decomposition due to conversion to mining, urban areas and agriculture. The emissions from peatland areas classified as forest in 2000 represent 1–4% of Peruvian CO2 forest emissions between 2000 and 2016. We suggest that bespoke monitoring, protection and sustainable management of tropical peatlands are required to avoid further degradation and CO2 emissions.

AB - Tropical peatlands are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems but land-use change has led to the loss of large peatland areas, associated with substantial greenhouse gas emissions. To design effective conservation and restoration policies, maps of the location and carbon storage of tropical peatlands are vital. This is especially so in countries such as Peru where the distribution of its large, hydrologically intact peatlands is poorly known. Here field and remote sensing data support the model development of peatland extent and thickness for lowland Peruvian Amazonia. We estimate a peatland area of 62,714 km2 (5th and 95th confidence interval percentiles of 58,325 and 67,102 km2, respectively) and carbon stock of 5.4 (2.6–10.6) PgC, a value approaching the entire above-ground carbon stock of Peru but contained within just 5% of its land area. Combining the map of peatland extent with national land-cover data we reveal small but growing areas of deforestation and associated CO2 emissions from peat decomposition due to conversion to mining, urban areas and agriculture. The emissions from peatland areas classified as forest in 2000 represent 1–4% of Peruvian CO2 forest emissions between 2000 and 2016. We suggest that bespoke monitoring, protection and sustainable management of tropical peatlands are required to avoid further degradation and CO2 emissions.

U2 - 10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4

DO - 10.1038/s41561-022-00923-4

M3 - Article

SN - 1752-0908

VL - First Online

JO - Nature Geoscience

JF - Nature Geoscience

ER -

Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru

Abstract

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Peatland resilience: Knowledge exchange: Peatland resilience: Knowledge exchange for the conservation and sustainable management of forested tropical peatlands

Valuing Intact Tropical Peatlands: Valuing Intact Tropical Peatlands: An Interdisciplinary Challenge

Carbon storage in Amazonian peatlands: Carbon storage in Amazonian peatlands: distribution and dynamics

Datasets

Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru (dataset)

Cite this