Ecohydrological response of a tropical peatland to rainfall changes driven by intertropical convergence zone variability
Data files
Dec 09, 2024 version files 37.35 KB
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Oropel_data.xlsx
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README.md
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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.
README: Ecohydrological response of a tropical peatland to rainfall changes driven by intertropical convergence zone variability
Access this dataset at http://datadryad.org/stash/share/C4bYM0-8PpUynSSLf_Nb-wnHTxFvA8bkyVVqRoewPng
This file contains multiproxy palaeoecological data from a core from Oropel Swamp, Panama. The site is located here: 9°22′54″N, 82°21′59″W. 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.
Description of the data and file structure
The data are provided as an Excel file with four tabs. Please contact g.swindles@qub.ac.uk if you need to discuss the data.
Data provided:
CN tab
Description: Elemental analysis of peat cores.
% Carbon (Percentage)
% Nitrogen (Percentage)
% Hydrogen (Percentage)
C/N Ratio (Carbon/Nitrogen ratio)
C/H Ratio (Carbon/Hydrogen ratio)
LOI tab
Description: Loss-on-ignition analysis of peat cores through ignition to determine organic content.
% Loss-on-ignition (Percentage)
TA tab
Description: Testate amoebae (percentage data and count), water table and moisture content reconstructions (including errors max and min developed from bootstrapping).
NMDS AXIS 1 = NMDS Axis one scores (Non-metric MultiDimensional Scaling). No units.
WTD = Water-table depth mean (cm)
WTDMIN = Water-table depth maximum (cm)
WTDMAX = Water-table depth minimum (cm)
MC = Moisture content mean (%)
MCMAX = Moisture content maximum (%)
MCMIN = Moisture content minimum (%)
Macros tab
Description: % and individual count plant macrofossil data (units are indicated)
Pollen tab
Description: % Pollen data and pollen count sum.
Sharing/Access information
Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data:
N/A
Data was derived from the following sources:
Published paper in J. Biogeography.
Methods
Data was collected from Oropel peat core using palaeoecological methods.