LIKOUALA SWAMP FORESTS
; BONOBOS PAN-PANISCUS
; TROPICAL PEATLANDS
; CENTRAL KALIMANTAN
; VEGETATION TYPES
; CENTRAL-AFRICA
; GORILLA-GORILLA
; CARBON STOCKS
; HABITAT USE
; CLIMATE
WOS学科分类:
Environmental Sciences
WOS研究方向:
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
英文摘要:
The recent publication of the first spatially explicit map of peatlands in the Cuvette Centrale, central Congo Basin, reveals it to be the most extensive tropical peatland complex, at ca. 145,500km(2). With an estimated 30.6Pg of carbon stored in these peatlands, there are now questions about whether these carbon stocks are under threat and, if so, what can be done to protect them. Here, we analyse the potential threats to Congo Basin peat carbon stocks and identify knowledge gaps in relation to these threats, and to how the peatland systems might respond. Climate change emerges as a particularly pressing concern, given its potential to destabilise carbon stocks across the whole area. Socio-economic developments are increasing across central Africa and, whilst much of the peatland area is protected on paper by some form of conservation designation, the potential exists for hydrocarbon exploration, logging, plantations and other forms of disturbance to significantly damage the peatland ecosystems. The low level of human intervention at present suggests that the opportunity still exists to protect the peatlands in a largely intact state, possibly drawing on climate change mitigation funding, which can be used not only to protect the peat carbon pool but also to improve the livelihoods of people living in and around these peatlands.
1.Univ Leeds, Sch Geog, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England 2.UCL, Dept Geog, London WC1E 6BT, England 3.Univ St Andrews, Dept Geog & Sustainable Dev, St Andrews KY16 9AL, Fife, Scotland 4.Wildlife Conservat Soc, 2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10460 USA 5.UN Environm World Conservat Monitoring Ctr, 219 Huntingdon Rd, Cambridge CB3 0DL, England 6.Univ Edinburgh, Sch GeoSci, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, Midlothian, Scotland 7.Univ Leicester, Sch Geog Geol & Environm, Leicester LE1 7RH, Leics, England 8.Univ Marien Ngouabi, Fac Sci & Tech, Brazzaville, Rep Congo 9.Univ Marien Ngouabi, Ecole Normale Super, Brazzaville, Rep Congo
Recommended Citation:
Dargie, Greta C.,Lawson, Ian T.,Rayden, Tim J.,et al. Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities[J]. MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR GLOBAL CHANGE,2019-01-01,24(4):669-686