Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Applied Ecology (MS)

Administrative Home Department

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Advisor 1

Rodney Chimner

Advisor 2

Erik Lilleskov

Committee Member 1

Mickey Jarvi

Abstract

In this research, I explore the distribution, condition, and carbon stocks of peatlands in the Colombian Andes. High mountain peatlands in Colombia, usually found within the páramos, face significant ecological challenges. Although Law 1930 (2018) mandates sustainable páramo management, it does not prohibit peatland disturbance. Undisturbed peatlands act as long-term carbon sinks, but their degradation can convert them into greenhouse gas sources. The lack of comprehensive national peatland mapping hampers effective environmental management and policy formulation. I aim to create a national-scale peatland map, assess peatland distribution, quantify degraded pasture peatlands, and report preliminary soil carbon stocks. Additionally, I compared classification results at subregional, regional, and national scales to determine the optimal approach for mapping peatlands across Colombia. Using a combination of extensive ground truthing and remote sensing products, I mapped approximately 4.7 million ha. These products are obtained from Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery, Sentinel-1 and ALOS PALSAR Synthetic Aperture Radar data, and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data. These were used as inputs to a Random Forest machine learning classification algorithm to classify land use and land cover into 17 distinct classes, including five peatland classes. Results indicate that peatlands occupy 224,848 ha (± 19,244) to 250,306 ha (± 19,100), representing 5.2-5.73% of the mapped area. Among these, 13-15% are classified as pasture peatlands, highlighting significant human disturbance. Despite 51% being within protected areas, they often lack adequate protection, leading to substantial greenhouse gas emissions and water storage disruption. Scaling up carbon analysis, I estimate that peatlands above 2750 m may store 366 to 407 Tg of soil carbon. Comparing the three national maps, created by combining classification results at different scales, allowed us to identify areas needing further ground truthing to improve future national peatland maps. Discrepancies among our three maps are primarily located in shallow peat areas or transitional zones between peatlands and other land classes. These findings underscore the critical role of peatlands and mountain ecosystems in regional carbon storage and emphasize the importance of integrating peatlands into conservation and management practices to prevent further degradation and mitigate climate change impacts.

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