IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v612y2022i7939d10.1038_s41586-022-05389-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin

Author

Listed:
  • Yannick Garcin

    (Aix Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, CEREGE
    University of Potsdam)

  • Enno Schefuß

    (University of Bremen)

  • Greta C. Dargie

    (University of Leeds)

  • Donna Hawthorne

    (University of St Andrews)

  • Ian T. Lawson

    (University of St Andrews)

  • David Sebag

    (Earth Sciences and Environmental Technologies Division
    University of Lausanne)

  • George E. Biddulph

    (University of St Andrews)

  • Bart Crezee

    (University of Leeds)

  • Yannick E. Bocko

    (Université Marien Ngouabi)

  • Suspense A. Ifo

    (Université Marien Ngouabi)

  • Y. Emmanuel Mampouya Wenina

    (Université Marien Ngouabi)

  • Mackline Mbemba

    (Université Marien Ngouabi)

  • Corneille E. N. Ewango

    (Université de Kisangani
    Université de Kisangani)

  • Ovide Emba

    (Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Mbandaka)

  • Pierre Bola

    (Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Mbandaka)

  • Joseph Kanyama Tabu

    (Université de Kisangani)

  • Genevieve Tyrrell

    (University of Leicester)

  • Dylan M. Young

    (University of Leeds)

  • Ghislain Gassier

    (Aix Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, CEREGE)

  • Nicholas T. Girkin

    (Cranfield University)

  • Christopher H. Vane

    (Centre for Environmental Geochemistry)

  • Thierry Adatte

    (University of Lausanne)

  • Andy J. Baird

    (University of Leeds)

  • Arnoud Boom

    (University of Leicester)

  • Pauline Gulliver

    (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC))

  • Paul J. Morris

    (University of Leeds)

  • Susan E. Page

    (University of Leicester)

  • Sofie Sjögersten

    (University of Nottingham)

  • Simon L. Lewis

    (University of Leeds
    University College London)

Abstract

The forested swamps of the central Congo Basin store approximately 30 billion metric tonnes of carbon in peat1,2. Little is known about the vulnerability of these carbon stocks. Here we investigate this vulnerability using peat cores from a large interfluvial basin in the Republic of the Congo and palaeoenvironmental methods. We find that peat accumulation began at least at 17,500 calibrated years before present (cal. yr bp; taken as ad 1950). Our data show that the peat that accumulated between around 7,500 to around 2,000 cal. yr bp is much more decomposed compared with older and younger peat. Hydrogen isotopes of plant waxes indicate a drying trend, starting at approximately 5,000 cal. yr bp and culminating at approximately 2,000 cal. yr bp, coeval with a decline in dominant swamp forest taxa. The data imply that the drying climate probably resulted in a regional drop in the water table, which triggered peat decomposition, including the loss of peat carbon accumulated prior to the onset of the drier conditions. After approximately 2,000 cal. yr bp, our data show that the drying trend ceased, hydrologic conditions stabilized and peat accumulation resumed. This reversible accumulation–loss–accumulation pattern is consistent with other peat cores across the region, indicating that the carbon stocks of the central Congo peatlands may lie close to a climatically driven drought threshold. Further research should quantify the combination of peatland threshold behaviour and droughts driven by anthropogenic carbon emissions that may trigger this positive carbon cycle feedback in the Earth system.

Suggested Citation

  • Yannick Garcin & Enno Schefuß & Greta C. Dargie & Donna Hawthorne & Ian T. Lawson & David Sebag & George E. Biddulph & Bart Crezee & Yannick E. Bocko & Suspense A. Ifo & Y. Emmanuel Mampouya Wenina & , 2022. "Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin," Nature, Nature, vol. 612(7939), pages 277-282, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:612:y:2022:i:7939:d:10.1038_s41586-022-05389-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05389-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05389-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41586-022-05389-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Padfield, Rory & Varkkey, Helena & Manzo, Kate & Ganesan, Vignaa, 2023. "Time bomb or gold mine? Policy, sustainability and media representations of tropical peatlands in Malaysia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Bradley Hiller & Judith Fisher, 2023. "A Multifunctional ‘Scape Approach for Sustainable Management of Intact Ecosystems—A Review of Tropical Peatlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, January.
    3. Chuma B. Géant & Joost Wellens & Mushagalusa N. Gustave & Serge Schmitz, 2024. "How Rural Communities Relate to Nature in Sub-Saharan Regions: Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands in South-Kivu," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-31, August.
    4. Putao Zhang & Junheng Yang & Haijun Cui & Weifeng Song & Yingying Liu & Xunxun Shi & Xiaoting Bi & Suyao Yuan, 2024. "Drainage and Afforestation More Strongly Affect Soil Microbial Composition in Fens than Bogs of Subtropical Moss Peatlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-18, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:612:y:2022:i:7939:d:10.1038_s41586-022-05389-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.