Open AccessCurrent knowledge on the Cuvette Centrale peatland complex and future research directions
Author(s) -
George E. Biddulph,
Yannick E. Bocko,
Pierre Bola,
Bart Crezee,
Greta C. Dargie,
Ovide Emba,
Selena Georgiou,
Nicholas T. Girkin,
Donna Hawthorne,
Jonay JOVANI-SANCHO,
Joseph Kanyama T.,
Wenina Emmanuel MAMPOUYA,
Mackline Mbemba,
Matteo Sciumbata,
Genevieve Tyrrell
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
bois et forêts des tropiques/bois et forêts des tropiques
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.235
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 1777-5760
pISSN - 0006-579X
DOI - 10.19182/bft2021.350.a36288
Subject(s) - peat , cuvette , greenhouse gas , resource (disambiguation) , environmental science , biodiversity , climate change , ecology , mire , deforestation (computer science) , global warming , geography , biology , computer network , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
The Cuvette Centrale is the largest tropical peatland complex in the world, covering approximately 145,000 km2 across the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It stores ca. 30.6 Pg C, the equivalent of three years of global carbon dioxide emissions and is now the first trans-national Ramsar site. Despite its size and importance as a global carbon store, relatively little is known about key aspects of its ecology and history, including its formation, the scale of greenhouse gas flows, its biodiversity and its history of human activity. Here, we synthesise available knowledge on the Cuvette Centrale, identifying key areas for further research. Finally, we review the potential of mathematical models to assess future trajectories for the peatlands in terms of the potential impacts of resource extraction or climate change.