Swindles, G.T., Whitney, B.S., Gałka, M. et al. (7 more authors) (2024) Ecohydrological Response of a Tropical Peatland to Rainfall Changes Driven by Intertropical Convergence Zone Variability. Journal of Biogeography. ISSN 0305-0270
Abstract
Aim Tropical peatlands are globally significant carbon stores, increasingly threatened by human activities and climate change. However, their ecohydrological responses to shifting water availability remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the connections between climate change, hydrology and vegetation dynamics in a coastal tropical peatland in Panama, aiming to understand the effects of future drying on peatland dynamics.
Location Bocas del Toro, Panama (9°22′54″N, 82°21′59″W).
Taxon Angiosperms.
Methods High-resolution multiproxy palaeoecological data, including pollen and plant macrofossils (vegetation), testate amoebae (water-table depth) and physical peat properties, are used to explore the relationships between climate change, hydrology and vegetation in a coastal tropical peatland over the past 700 years. Downscaled climate simulations are integrated with this process-based understanding to project the likely future responses of this coastal peatland to climate change.
Results We identify a clear connection between precipitation variability, driven by shifts in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and water-table dynamics, which subsequently influence changes in the peatland vegetation mosaic. Historical drier periods are marked by the expansion of shrub communities into the open peatland plain.
Main Conclusions Palaeoecological studies incorporating climate and hydrological proxies are essential for understanding both recent and future ecohydrological dynamics of tropical peatlands. Our findings suggest that in response to future climate change, water tables will lower and shrub communities will expand due to rising temperatures and reduced precipitation. Additionally, future sea-level rise, combined with declining rainfall, may result in seawater intrusion and significant vegetation shifts in coastal tropical peatlands.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Biogeography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | climate change; ecohydrology; palaeoenvironments; precipitation change; tropical ecology; wetlands |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > River Basin Processes & Management (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 19 Dec 2024 12:46 |
Last Modified: | 19 Dec 2024 13:03 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/jbi.15051 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:220995 |