Characterizing and Assessing Palm Swamp Degradation in the Peruvian Amazon.

Keywords: Remote sensing, Peru, Mauritia flexuosa, aguaje, deforestation, critical physical geography, climate change
Session Type: Virtual Paper
Day: Wednesday
Session Start / End Time: 4/7/2021 01:30 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/7/2021 02:45 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 24

Abstract

Recent research has revealed the importance of carbon sequestered in the soils of tropical forests in the form of peat. Until recently, the extent and volume of peat accumulation in the Amazon Rainforest was unknown, however, the Pastaza-Marañón foreland basin in the Peruvian department of Loreto has been recently proven to contain vast quantities of carbon sequestered within these peat deposits. Large swaths of peat forming wetland ecosystems in the Peruvian Amazon are swamps dominated by the fruit bearing palm Mauritia flexuosa. These palm swamps are under threat due mainly to a destructive method of harvesting their fruit in which the trees are felled. Environmental degradation of this ecosystem risks converting the peatlands from a natural carbon sink into a potent carbon source. Despite the important environmental implications of ecosystem degradation in these wetlands, and the social implications of the communities who rely upon them for their livelihoods, little is known about the magnitude and spatial distribution of degradation at the regional scale. The goal of this study is to map degradation of the palm swamps dominated by Mauritia flexuosa over a period of three decades in most of the lowland Peruvian Amazon. We find that the density distribution of M. flexuosa follows an ecological successional pattern where dense stands transition into less dense stands and ultimately into an ecosystem dominated by woody trees, known as pole forests. We produce evidence that degradation of the palm swamps is accelerating this trend.