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Peatlands of the Madre de Dios River of Peru: Distribution, Geomorphology, and Habitat Diversity

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Abstract

We present results of research concerning the distribution, depth, volume, geomorphology, and habitat diversity of peatlands in the southern Peruvian Amazon. We identified 295 peatlands covering 294 km2 and ranging in size from 10 to 3,500 ha. Individual peatlands were mostly restricted to the meander belt of the Madre de Dios River. Mean peat depth was 2.54 ± 1.84 m (n = 429), however we encountered depths to 9 m and 10% of the measurements exceeded 5 m. We developed a calibration factor to calculate peat volume across the study area, estimating total peat volume within 295 peatlands at 657 ± 119 Mm3. An interpolated depth map of subsurface morphology of a single peatland showed that fluvial features were well-conserved beneath several meters of peat and three distinct subsurface geomophological units defined by peat depth could be identified: the Primary Basin, Secondary Basin, and Intrabasin flats. Subsurface geomorphology resulted in increased within-habitat heterogeneity and explained 35% of the variation of pixel values extracted from Landsat™ imagery. Representing a hydrological link from elevated uplands to the lower floodplains, peatlands in Madre de Dios are especially threatened on local scales by habitat alteration in the uplands and gold mining in the floodplains.

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Acknowledgments

This project was made possible by funding from the Discovery Fund of Fort Worth, Texas, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the U.S. National Science Foundation (grant no. 0717453), and the Programa de Ciencia y Tecnologia—FINCYT (co-financed by the Banco Internacional de Desarollo, BID) grant number PIBAP-2007–005. We thank Sy Sohmer, Cleve Lancaster, Pat Harrison, Will McClatchey, the board of directors, administration, development, and general staff of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) for providing important institutional support and infrastructure. We are grateful to Keri Barfield, Renan Valega, and Jason Wells of BRIT for logistical support, assistance, and discussion during various phases of this research. We thank Javier Huinga and Angel Balarezo for research assistance in the field. We thank various Peruvian institutions, including the Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales (INRENA), the Dirección General de Flora y Fauna Silvestre (DGFFS), the Ministerio de Agricultura (MINAG), and the Ministerio del Ambiente (MINAM) for research, collection, and export permits during the course of this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 1700 University Drive, Fort Worth, TX, 76107, USA

    J. Ethan Householder & John P. Janovec

  2. Graduate Program in Ecology, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia – INPA, CP 478, 69011-970, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

    J. Ethan Householder

  3. San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027-7000, USA

    Mathias W. Tobler

  4. Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Susan Page

  5. Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Outi Lähteenoja

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  1. J. Ethan Householder
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Correspondence to J. Ethan Householder.

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Householder, J.E., Janovec, J.P., Tobler, M.W. et al. Peatlands of the Madre de Dios River of Peru: Distribution, Geomorphology, and Habitat Diversity. Wetlands 32, 359–368 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-012-0271-2

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