Our carbon and vegetation map of Peruvian peatlands – in action

DSC_1663b

River levels are dropping in Loreto, northern Peru at this time of year, and that means that access is briefly possible to some of the fascinating peatland forests that we have been working on over the last few years. And for the first field season ever, the vegetation and carbon map published by Freddie Draper last year is available to guide our thinking about where to go and what to look out for. Many of these fieldtrips one way or another involve the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana, key members of the Tropical Wetlands Consortium, and it is exciting to have a framework that can be used to suggest places to go – and interpret the results as they come in. Our old friend Victor Chama who has worked with the RAINFOR plot network for many years, has taken an auger with him to the upper stretches of the Rio Corrientes where he is examining the state of the forests that are close to areas that have been impacted by the oil industry; we look forward to finding out how deep the peat is in this unstudied region. Other researchers at IIAP have reported new records of the unique pole forests (‘varillal hidromorfico’; the most carbon dense vegetation type in the Amazon) that was mapped for the first time last year, and these reports will help us improve our understanding of how these habitats have developed. The Carnegie Institute and CIFOR are also undertaking fieldwork in the region this year, with the support of IIAP. Finally, the Field Museum of Chicago is completing its report about their recent Rapid Inventory of sites along the Rio Tapiche; this report together with other rapid inventories from the southern area of the peatland complex will improve our understanding of this region. Doubtless, the current map will be improved as more field data becomes available. However, what is most exciting is how the map is allowing us to develop a truly landscape-scale perspective on how these special habitats have formed.

Leave a comment