The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years
Tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia cover ∼25 million hectares and exert a strong influence on the global carbon cycle. Recent widespread peatland subsidence and carbon dioxide emissions in response to human activity and climate change have been well documented, but peatland genesis remains poorly...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb853 |
| _version_ | 1797747710770544640 |
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| author | Monika Ruwaimana Gusti Z Anshari Lucas C R Silva Daniel G Gavin |
| author_facet | Monika Ruwaimana Gusti Z Anshari Lucas C R Silva Daniel G Gavin |
| author_sort | Monika Ruwaimana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia cover ∼25 million hectares and exert a strong influence on the global carbon cycle. Recent widespread peatland subsidence and carbon dioxide emissions in response to human activity and climate change have been well documented, but peatland genesis remains poorly understood. Unlike coastal peatlands that established following sea-level stabilization during the mid-Holocene, inland peatlands of Borneo are little studied and have no apparent environmental constraint on their formation. Here, we report radiocarbon dates from the Upper Kapuas Basin which show inland peat formation since at least 47.8 thousand calibrated radiocarbon years before present, ka. We provide a synthesis of new and existing peat basal dates across Borneo, which shows a hiatus in peat genesis during a cool and dry period from 30 to 20 ka. Despite likely peat degradation during that period, the Upper Kapuas is still exceptionally deep, reaching a maximum depth (determined from coring) of 18 m. Our best estimate of mean peat depth over 3833 km ^2 of the Upper Kapuas is 5.16 ± 2.66 m, corresponding to a carbon density of 2790 ± 1440 Mg C ha ^−1 . This is one of the most carbon-dense ecosystems in the world. It withstood the glacial-interglacial climate transition and remains mostly intact, but is increasingly threatened by land-use change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3ab42dde8a3e42fc865ff857e775ee0b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:33Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-3ab42dde8a3e42fc865ff857e775ee0b2023-08-09T14:57:12ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-01151111402710.1088/1748-9326/abb853The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 yearsMonika Ruwaimana0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3891-4177Gusti Z Anshari1Lucas C R Silva2Daniel G Gavin3University of Oregon , Eugene, Oregon, United States of America; Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta , Yogyakarta, IndonesiaUniversitas Tanjungpura (UNTAN) , Pontianak, IndonesiaUniversity of Oregon , Eugene, Oregon, United States of AmericaUniversity of Oregon , Eugene, Oregon, United States of AmericaTropical peatlands in Southeast Asia cover ∼25 million hectares and exert a strong influence on the global carbon cycle. Recent widespread peatland subsidence and carbon dioxide emissions in response to human activity and climate change have been well documented, but peatland genesis remains poorly understood. Unlike coastal peatlands that established following sea-level stabilization during the mid-Holocene, inland peatlands of Borneo are little studied and have no apparent environmental constraint on their formation. Here, we report radiocarbon dates from the Upper Kapuas Basin which show inland peat formation since at least 47.8 thousand calibrated radiocarbon years before present, ka. We provide a synthesis of new and existing peat basal dates across Borneo, which shows a hiatus in peat genesis during a cool and dry period from 30 to 20 ka. Despite likely peat degradation during that period, the Upper Kapuas is still exceptionally deep, reaching a maximum depth (determined from coring) of 18 m. Our best estimate of mean peat depth over 3833 km ^2 of the Upper Kapuas is 5.16 ± 2.66 m, corresponding to a carbon density of 2790 ± 1440 Mg C ha ^−1 . This is one of the most carbon-dense ecosystems in the world. It withstood the glacial-interglacial climate transition and remains mostly intact, but is increasingly threatened by land-use change.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb853peatcarbon reservoirBorneoHolocenelast glacial maximumradiocarbon dating |
| spellingShingle | Monika Ruwaimana Gusti Z Anshari Lucas C R Silva Daniel G Gavin The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years Environmental Research Letters peat carbon reservoir Borneo Holocene last glacial maximum radiocarbon dating |
| title | The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years |
| title_full | The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years |
| title_fullStr | The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years |
| title_full_unstemmed | The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years |
| title_short | The oldest extant tropical peatland in the world: a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years |
| title_sort | oldest extant tropical peatland in the world a major carbon reservoir for at least 47 000 years |
| topic | peat carbon reservoir Borneo Holocene last glacial maximum radiocarbon dating |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb853 |
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