Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru

This work was funded by NERC (grant ref. NE/R000751/1) to I.T.L., A.H., K.H.R., E.T.A.M., C.M.A., T.R.B., G.D. and E.C.D.G.; Leverhulme Trust (grant ref. RPG-2018-306) to K.H.R., L.E.S.C. and C.E.W.; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant no. 5439, MonANPeru network) to T.R.B., E.N.H.C. and G.F.; Wildlife Conservation Society to E.N.H.C.; Concytec/British Council/Embajada Británica Lima/Newton Fund (grant ref. 220–2018) to E.N.H.C. and J.D.; Concytec/NERC/Embajada Británica Lima/Newton Fund (grant ref. 001–2019) to E.N.H.C. and N.D.; the governments of the United States (grant no. MTO-069018) and Norway (grant agreement no. QZA-12/0882) to K.H.; and NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship (grant ref no. NE/V018760/1) to E.N.H.C.Tropical peatlands are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems but land-use change has led to the loss of large peatland areas, associated with substantial greenhouse gas emissions. To design effective conservation and restoration policies, maps of the location and carbon storage of tropical peatlands are vital. This is especially so in countries such as Peru where the distribution of its large, hydrologically intact peatlands is poorly known. Here field and remote sensing data support the model development of peatland extent and thickness for lowland Peruvian Amazonia. We estimate a peatland area of 62,714 km2 (5th and 95th confidence interval percentiles of 58,325 and 67,102 km2, respectively) and carbon stock of 5.4 (2.6–10.6) PgC, a value approaching the entire above-ground carbon stock of Peru but contained within just 5% of its land area. Combining the map of peatland extent with national land-cover data we reveal small but growing areas of deforestation and associated CO2 emissions from peat decomposition due to conversion to mining, urban areas and agriculture. The emissions from peatland areas classified as forest in 2000 represent 1–4% of Peruvian CO2 forest emissions between 2000 and 2016. We suggest that bespoke monitoring, protection and sustainable management of tropical peatlands are required to avoid further degradation and CO2 emissions.PostprintPeer reviewe

The complete mitochondrial genome of the oleaginous microalgae Ankistrodesmus falcatus strain UCP001 from the Peruvian Amazon

Ankistrodesmus falcatus strain UCP001 is a native oleaginous microalgae isolated from the Peruvian Amazon basin. In this study we sequenced, de novo assembled, and functionally annotated the complete mitochondrial genome of the native oleaginous microalgae Ankistrodesmus falcatus strain UCP001 (Accesion number MT701044). This mitogenome is a typical circular double stranded DNA molecule of 41,048 bp in total length with G + C content of 37.4%. The mitogenome contains 49 genes, including 18 protein coding genes, 5 ribosomal (rRNA) genes and 26 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. A phylogenetic analysis of 18 microalgae species indicated that Ankistrodesmus falcatus strain UCP001 was closely related to Ourococcus multisporus and Raphidocelis subcapitata. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Ankistrodesmus falcatus strain UCP001 enriches genomic resources of oleaginous native microalgae from the Peruvian Amazon for further basic and applied research