An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor

Wetlands are important providers of ecosystem services and key regulators of climate change. They positively contribute to global warming through their greenhouse gas emissions, and negatively through the accumulation of organic material in histosols, particularly in peatlands. Our understanding of...

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Main Authors: Gumbricht, Thomas, Román Cuesta, Rosa María, Verchot, Louis V., Herold, Martin, Wittmann, Florian, Householder, Ethan, Herold, Nadine, Murdiyarso, Daniel
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/81497
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author Gumbricht, Thomas
Román Cuesta, Rosa María
Verchot, Louis V.
Herold, Martin
Wittmann, Florian
Householder, Ethan
Herold, Nadine
Murdiyarso, Daniel
author_browse Gumbricht, Thomas
Herold, Martin
Herold, Nadine
Householder, Ethan
Murdiyarso, Daniel
Román Cuesta, Rosa María
Verchot, Louis V.
Wittmann, Florian
author_facet Gumbricht, Thomas
Román Cuesta, Rosa María
Verchot, Louis V.
Herold, Martin
Wittmann, Florian
Householder, Ethan
Herold, Nadine
Murdiyarso, Daniel
author_sort Gumbricht, Thomas
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Wetlands are important providers of ecosystem services and key regulators of climate change. They positively contribute to global warming through their greenhouse gas emissions, and negatively through the accumulation of organic material in histosols, particularly in peatlands. Our understanding of wetlands’ services is currently constrained by limited knowledge on their distribution, extent, volume, interannual flood variability and disturbance levels. We present an expert system approach to estimate wetland and peatland areas, depths and volumes, which relies on three biophysical indices related to wetland and peat formation: (1) long-term water supply exceeding atmospheric water demand; (2) annually or seasonally water-logged soils; and (3) a geomorphological position where water is supplied and retained. Tropical and subtropical wetlands estimates reach 4.7 million km2 (Mkm2). In line with current understanding, the American continent is the major contributor (45%), and Brazil, with its Amazonian interfluvial region, contains the largest tropical wetland area (800,720 km2). Our model suggests, however, unprecedented extents and volumes of peatland in the tropics (1.7 Mkm2 and 7,268 (6,076–7,368) km3), which more than threefold current estimates. Unlike current understanding, our estimates suggest that South America and not Asia contributes the most to tropical peatland area and volume (ca. 44% for both) partly related to some yet unaccounted extended deep deposits but mainly to extended but shallow peat in the Amazon Basin. Brazil leads the peatland area and volume contribution. Asia hosts 38% of both tropical peat area and volume with Indonesia as the main regional contributor and still the holder of the deepest and most extended peat areas in the tropics. Africa hosts more peat than previously reported but climatic and topographic contexts leave it as the least peat-forming continent. Our results suggest large biases in our current understanding of the distribution, area and volumes of tropical peat and their continental contributions.
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spelling CGSpace814972025-03-13T09:44:09Z An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor Gumbricht, Thomas Román Cuesta, Rosa María Verchot, Louis V. Herold, Martin Wittmann, Florian Householder, Ethan Herold, Nadine Murdiyarso, Daniel climate change land use peatlands tropical zones wetlands cambio climático utilización de la tierra turberas zona tropical tierras húmedas Wetlands are important providers of ecosystem services and key regulators of climate change. They positively contribute to global warming through their greenhouse gas emissions, and negatively through the accumulation of organic material in histosols, particularly in peatlands. Our understanding of wetlands’ services is currently constrained by limited knowledge on their distribution, extent, volume, interannual flood variability and disturbance levels. We present an expert system approach to estimate wetland and peatland areas, depths and volumes, which relies on three biophysical indices related to wetland and peat formation: (1) long-term water supply exceeding atmospheric water demand; (2) annually or seasonally water-logged soils; and (3) a geomorphological position where water is supplied and retained. Tropical and subtropical wetlands estimates reach 4.7 million km2 (Mkm2). In line with current understanding, the American continent is the major contributor (45%), and Brazil, with its Amazonian interfluvial region, contains the largest tropical wetland area (800,720 km2). Our model suggests, however, unprecedented extents and volumes of peatland in the tropics (1.7 Mkm2 and 7,268 (6,076–7,368) km3), which more than threefold current estimates. Unlike current understanding, our estimates suggest that South America and not Asia contributes the most to tropical peatland area and volume (ca. 44% for both) partly related to some yet unaccounted extended deep deposits but mainly to extended but shallow peat in the Amazon Basin. Brazil leads the peatland area and volume contribution. Asia hosts 38% of both tropical peat area and volume with Indonesia as the main regional contributor and still the holder of the deepest and most extended peat areas in the tropics. Africa hosts more peat than previously reported but climatic and topographic contexts leave it as the least peat-forming continent. Our results suggest large biases in our current understanding of the distribution, area and volumes of tropical peat and their continental contributions. 2017-09 2017-06-08T21:08:09Z 2017-06-08T21:08:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/81497 en Open Access Wiley Gumbricht, Thomas; Roman-Cuesta, Rosa Maria; Verchot, Louis; Herold, Martin; Wittmann, Florian; Householder, Ethan; Herold, Nadine; Murdiyarso, Daniel. 2017. An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor . Global Change Biology 23(9): 3581-3599. .
spellingShingle climate change
land use
peatlands
tropical zones
wetlands
cambio climático
utilización de la tierra
turberas
zona tropical
tierras húmedas
Gumbricht, Thomas
Román Cuesta, Rosa María
Verchot, Louis V.
Herold, Martin
Wittmann, Florian
Householder, Ethan
Herold, Nadine
Murdiyarso, Daniel
An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor
title An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor
title_full An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor
title_fullStr An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor
title_full_unstemmed An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor
title_short An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor
title_sort expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals south america as the largest contributor
topic climate change
land use
peatlands
tropical zones
wetlands
cambio climático
utilización de la tierra
turberas
zona tropical
tierras húmedas
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/81497
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