An expert system model for mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the largest contributor

• Published in: Global change biology Vol. 23; no. 9; pp. 3581 - 3599
• Main Authors: Gumbricht, Thomas, Roman‐Cuesta, Rosa Maria, Verchot, Louis, Herold, Martin, Wittmann, Florian, Householder, Ethan, Herold, Nadine, Murdiyarso, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Africa; Air pollution; Area; Asia; Atmospheric water; basins; Brazil; Climate; Climate Change; Current distribution; Distribution; Ecosystem disturbance; Ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Estimates; Expert Systems; flooded conditions; Geomorphology; Global warming; Greenhouse effect; greenhouse gas emissions; Greenhouse gases; Histosols; Hosts; Indonesia; Laboratorium voor Geo-informatiekunde en remote sensing; Laboratory of Geo-information Science and Remote Sensing; land use; Mapping; PE&RC; Peat; Peatlands; Regulators; River basins; Soil; Soil water; topography; Tropical climate; Tropical environments; tropics; Variability; Water demand; Water supply; Wetlands; South America; Brazil; Asia; Africa; Indonesia; wetlands; land use; peatlands; tropics; climate change

Wetlands are important providers of ecosystem services and key regulators of climate change. They positively contribute to global warming through their greenhouse gas emissions, and negatively through the accumulation of organic material in histosols, particularly in peatlands. Our understanding of...