Setting up intensive measurement plots in Peru

From April to July 2018 Greta Dargie, Jhon del Aguila Pasquel, Julio Iriarica and Ian Lawson have been busy in the swamp forests of the Pastaza-Marañón Basin setting up monitoring sites.

At two key sites, at Nueva York and Veinte de Enero, we have installed a suite of equipment and initiated measurements aimed at measuring litter production and decomposition rates. At 14 further sites we are installing automated dipwells and litter decomposition bags. The aim is to better understand why carbon-rich peat soils accumulate in some places and not others.

A basal peat core from an open peatland at Veinte de Enero
Commuting to work through the flooded forest at Nueva York
Measuring the height of a palm tree
Setting up a litter transect
Installing a rain gauge at Veinte de Enero
One of the inhabitants of the aguajale: a skink

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