Dargie, G. C. et al. Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex. Nature 542, 86–90 (2017).
Google Scholar
Crezee, B. et al. Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data. Nat. Geosci. 15, 639–644 (2022).
Runge, J. in Large Rivers (ed. Gupta, A.) 293–309 (Wiley, 2008).
Davenport, I. J. et al. First evidence of peat domes in the Congo Basin using LiDAR from a fixed-wing drone. Remote Sens. 12, 2196 (2020).
Google Scholar
Dargie, G. C. et al. Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities. Mitig. Adapt. Strateg. Glob. Chang. 24, 669–686 (2018).
Young, D. M. et al. Misinterpreting carbon accumulation rates in records from near-surface peat. Sci. Rep. 9, 17939 (2019).
Google Scholar
Young, D. M., Baird, A. J., Gallego-Sala, A. V. & Loisel, J. A cautionary tale about using the apparent carbon accumulation rate (aCAR) obtained from peat cores. Sci. Rep. 11, 9547 (2021).
Google Scholar
Sebag, D. et al. Monitoring organic matter dynamics in soil profiles by ‘Rock-Eval pyrolysis’: bulk characterization and quantification of degradation. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 57, 344–355 (2006).
Google Scholar
Sebag, D. et al. Dynamics of soil organic matter based on new Rock-Eval indices. Geoderma 284, 185–203 (2016).
Google Scholar
Girkin, N. T. et al. Spatial variability of organic matter properties determines methane fluxes in a tropical forested peatland. Biogeochemistry 142, 231–245 (2019).
Google Scholar
Dargie, G. C. Quantifying and Understanding the Tropical Peatlands of the Central Congo Basin. PhD thesis, Univ. Leeds (2015).
Spiker, E. C. & Hatcher, P. G. Carbon isotope fractionation of sapropelic organic matter during early diagenesis. Org. Geochem. 5, 283–290 (1984).
Google Scholar
Chave, J. et al. Regional and seasonal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America. Biogeosciences 7, 43–55 (2010).
Google Scholar
Dommain, R. et al. Forest dynamics and tip-up pools drive pulses of high carbon accumulation rates in a tropical peat dome in Borneo (Southeast Asia). J. Geophys. Res. 120, 617–640 (2015).
Google Scholar
Wotzka, H.-P. in Grundlegungen: Beiträge zur europäischen und afrikanischen Archäologie fűr Manfred K. H. Eggert (ed. Wotzka, H.-P.) 271–289 (Francke, 2006).
Saulieu, G. D. et al. Archaeological evidence for population rise and collapse between ~2500 and ~500 cal. yr BP in Western Central Africa. Afr. Archéol. Arts 17, 11–32 (2021).
Sachse, D. et al. Molecular paleohydrology: interpreting the hydrogen-isotopic composition of lipid biomarkers from photosynthesizing organisms. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 40, 221–249 (2012).
Google Scholar
Collins, J. A. et al. Estimating the hydrogen isotopic composition of past precipitation using leaf-waxes from western Africa. Quat. Sci. Rev. 65, 88–101 (2013).
Google Scholar
Schefuß, E., Schouten, S. & Schneider, R. R. Climatic controls on central African hydrology during the past 20,000 years. Nature 437, 1003–1006 (2005).
Google Scholar
Kelly, T. J. et al. The vegetation history of an Amazonian domed peatland. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 468, 129–141 (2017).
Google Scholar
Swindles, G. T. et al. Ecosystem state shifts during long-term development of an Amazonian peatland. Global Change Biol. 24, 738–757 (2018).
Google Scholar
Dommain, R., Couwenberg, J. & Joosten, H. Development and carbon sequestration of tropical peat domes in south-east Asia: links to post-glacial sea-level changes and Holocene climate variability. Quat. Sci. Rev. 30, 999–1010 (2011).
Google Scholar
Lottes, A. L. & Ziegler, A. M. World peat occurrence and the seasonality of climate and vegetation. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 106, 23–37 (1994).
Google Scholar
Moutsamboté, J. M. Ecological, Phytogeographic and Phytosociological Study of Northern Congo (Plateaus, Bowls, Likouala and Sangha). PhD thesis, Univ. Marien Ngouabi (2012).
Dingman, S. L. Fluvial Hydrology (W. H. Freeman, 1984).
Swindles, G. T., Morris, P. J., Baird, A. J., Blaauw, M. & Plunkett, G. Ecohydrological feedbacks confound peat-based climate reconstructions. Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L11401 (2012).
Google Scholar
Morris, P. J., Baird, A. J., Young, D. M. & Swindles, G. T. Untangling climate signals from autogenic changes in long-term peatland development. Geophys. Res. Lett. 42, 10,788–10,797 (2015).
Google Scholar
Young, D. M., Baird, A. J., Morris, P. J. & Holden, J. Simulating the long-term impacts of drainage and restoration on the ecohydrology of peatlands. Water Resour. Res. 53, 6510–6522 (2017).
Google Scholar
Weldeab, S., Lea, D. W., Schneider, R. R. & Andersen, N. Centennial scale climate instabilities in a wet early Holocene West African monsoon. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L24702 (2007).
Google Scholar
Collins, J. A. et al. Rapid termination of the African Humid Period triggered by northern high-latitude cooling. Nat. Commun. 8, 1372 (2017).
Google Scholar
Garcin, Y. et al. Early anthropogenic impact on Western Central African rainforests 2,600 y ago. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 115, 3261–3266 (2018).
Google Scholar
Vincens, A. et al. Changement majeur de la végétation du lac Sinnda (vallée du Niari, Sud-Congo) consécutif à l’assèchement climatique holocène supérieur: apport de la palynologie. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sér. II 318, 1521–1526 (1994).
Elenga, H. et al. Diagramme pollinique holocène du lac Kitina (Congo): mise en évidence de changements paléobotaniques et paléoclimatiques dans le massif forestier du Mayombe. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sér. II 323, 403–410 (1996).
Google Scholar
Ngomanda, A., Neumann, K., Schweizer, A. & Maley, J. Seasonality change and the third millennium BP rainforest crisis in southern Cameroon (Central Africa). Quat. Res. 71, 307–318 (2009).
Google Scholar
Maley, J. et al. Late Holocene forest contraction and fragmentation in central Africa. Quat. Res. 89, 43–59 (2018).
Google Scholar
Bayon, G. et al. Intensifying weathering and land use in Iron Age Central Africa. Science 335, 1219–1222 (2012).
Google Scholar
Giresse, P., Maley, J. & Chepstow-Lusty, A. Understanding the 2500 yr BP rainforest crisis in West and Central Africa in the framework of the Late Holocene: pluridisciplinary analysis and multi-archive reconstruction. Global Planet. Change 192, 103257 (2020).
Google Scholar
Schefuß, E. et al. Hydrologic control of carbon cycling and aged carbon discharge in the Congo River basin. Nat. Geosci. 9, 687–690 (2016).
Google Scholar
Hoyt, A. M., Chaussard, E., Seppalainen, S. S. & Harvey, C. F. Widespread subsidence and carbon emissions across Southeast Asian peatlands. Nat. Geosci. 13, 435–440 (2020).
Google Scholar
Deshmukh, C. S. et al. Conservation slows down emission increase from a tropical peatland in Indonesia. Nat. Geosci. 14, 484–490 (2021).
Google Scholar
Köhler, P., Nehrbass-Ahles, C., Schmitt, J., Stocker, T. F. & Fischer, H. A 156 kyr smoothed history of the atmospheric greenhouse gases CO2, CH4, and N2O and their radiative forcing. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 9, 363–387 (2017).
Google Scholar
Jiang, Y. et al. Widespread increase of boreal summer dry season length over the Congo rainforest. Nat. Clim. Change 9, 617–622 (2019).
Google Scholar
Cook, K. H., Liu, Y. & Vizy, E. K. Congo Basin drying associated with poleward shifts of the African thermal lows. Clim. Dyn. 54, 863–883 (2020).
Google Scholar
Bennett, A. C. et al. Resistance of African tropical forests to an extreme climate anomaly. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2003169118 (2021).
Google Scholar
Sullivan, M. J. P. et al. Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth’s tropical forests. Science 368, 869–874 (2020).
Google Scholar
García-Palacios, P. et al. Evidence for large microbial-mediated losses of soil carbon under anthropogenic warming. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 2, 585–585 (2021).
Google Scholar
Cobb, A. R. et al. How temporal patterns in rainfall determine the geomorphology and carbon fluxes of tropical peatlands. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 114, E5187–E5196 (2017).
Google Scholar
Feng, X., Porporato, A. & Rodriguez-Iturbe, I. Changes in rainfall seasonality in the tropics. Nat. Clim. Change 3, 811–815 (2013).
Google Scholar
Karger, D. N. et al. Climatologies at high resolution for the earth’s land surface areas. Sci. Data 4, 170122 (2017).
Google Scholar
Xu, J. R., Morris, P. J., Liu, J. G. & Holden, J. PEATMAP: refining estimates of global peatland distribution based on a meta-analysis. Catena 160, 134–140 (2018).
Google Scholar
Paillard, D., Labeyrie, L. & Yiou, P. Macintosh program performs time-series analysis. Eos Trans. AGU 77, 379 (1996).
Google Scholar
Blaauw, M. & Christen, J. A. Flexible paleoclimate age–depth models using an autoregressive gamma process. Bayesian Anal. 6, 457–474 (2011).
Google Scholar
Blaauw, M. et al. rbacon: age–depth modelling using Bayesian statistics. R package version 2.5.7 (2021); https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rbacon/index.html.
Hogg, A. G. et al. SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere calibration, 0–55,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 62, 759–778 (2020).
Google Scholar
Reimer, P. et al. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 kcal BP). Radiocarbon 62, 725–757 (2020).
Google Scholar
Reuter, H., Gensel, J., Elvert, M. & Zak, D. Evidence for preferential protein depolymerization in wetland soils in response to external nitrogen availability provided by a novel FTIR routine. Biogeosciences 17, 499–514 (2020).
Google Scholar
Kuhry, P. & Vitt, D. H. Fossil carbon/nitrogen ratios as a measure of peat decomposition. Ecology 77, 271–275 (1996).
Google Scholar
Hornibrook, E. R. C., Longstaffe, F. J. & Fyfe, W. S. Evolution of stable carbon isotope compositions for methane and carbon dioxide in freshwater wetlands and other anaerobic environments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64, 1013–1027 (2000).
Google Scholar
Broder, T., Blodau, C., Biester, H. & Knorr, K. H. Peat decomposition records in three pristine ombrotrophic bogs in southern Patagonia. Biogeosciences 9, 1479–1491 (2012).
Google Scholar
Biester, H., Knorr, K. H., Schellekens, J., Basler, A. & Hermanns, Y. M. Comparison of different methods to determine the degree of peat decomposition in peat bogs. Biogeosciences 11, 2691–2707 (2014).
Google Scholar
Leifeld, J., Klein, K. & Wüst-Galley, C. Soil organic matter stoichiometry as indicator for peatland degradation. Sci. Rep. 10, 7634 (2020).
Google Scholar
Hodgkins, S. B. et al. Tropical peatland carbon storage linked to global latitudinal trends in peat recalcitrance. Nat. Commun. 9, 3640 (2018).
Google Scholar
Chimner, R. A. & Ewel, K. C. A tropical freshwater wetland: II. Production, decomposition, and peat formation. Wetlands Ecol. Manage. 13, 671–684 (2005).
Google Scholar
Lafargue, E., Marquis, F. & Pillot, D. Rock-Eval 6 applications in hydrocarbon exploration, production, and soil contamination studies. Oil Gas Sci. Technol. 53, 421–437 (1998).
Google Scholar
Behar, F., Beaumont, V. & Penteado, H. L. D. Rock-Eval 6 technology: performances and developments. Oil Gas Sci. Technol. 56, 111–134 (2001).
Google Scholar
Disnar, J. R., Guillet, B., Keravis, D., Di-Giovanni, C. & Sebag, D. Soil organic matter (SOM) characterization by Rock-Eval pyrolysis: scope and limitations. Org. Geochem. 34, 327–343 (2003).
Google Scholar
Marzi, R., Torkelson, B. E. & Olson, R. K. A revised carbon preference index. Org. Geochem. 20, 1303–1306 (1993).
Google Scholar
Eglinton, G. & Hamilton, R. J. Leaf epicuticular waxes. Science 156, 1322–1334 (1967).
Google Scholar
Sauer, P. E., Eglinton, T. I., Hayes, J. M., Schimmelmann, A. & Sessions, A. L. Compound-specific D/H ratios of lipid biomarkers from sediments as a proxy for environmental and climatic conditions. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 65, 213–222 (2001).
Google Scholar
Waelbroeck, C. et al. Sea-level and deep water temperature changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic records. Quat. Sci. Rev. 21, 295–305 (2002).
Google Scholar
Han, J. & Calvin, M. Hydrocarbon distribution of algae and bacteria, and microbiological activity in sediments. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 64, 436–443 (1969).
Google Scholar
Nakagawa, T. et al. Dense-media separation as a more efficient pollen extraction method for use with organic sediment/deposit samples: comparison with the conventional method. Boreas 27, 15–24 (1998).
Google Scholar
Stone, B. C. A synopsis of the African Species of Pandanus. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 60, 260–272 (1973).
Google Scholar
African Plant Database (version 3.4.0) (Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève and South African National Biodiversity Institute, accessed January 2022); http://africanplantdatabase.ch.
Polhill, R. M., Nordal, I., Kativu, S. & Poulsen, A. D. Flora of Tropical East Africa 1st edn (CRC Press, 1997).
Hawthorne, D. et al. Global Modern Charcoal Dataset (GMCD): a tool for exploring proxy-fire linkages and spatial patterns of biomass burning. Quat. Int. 488, 3–17 (2018).
Google Scholar
Stevenson, J. & Haberle, S. Macro Charcoal Analysis: A Modified Technique Used by the Department of Archaeology and Natural History. Palaeoworks Technical Paper No. 5 (PalaeoWorks, Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 2005).
Tierney, J. E., Pausata, F. S. R. & deMenocal, P. B. Rainfall regimes of the Green Sahara. Sci. Adv. 3, e1601503 (2017).
Google Scholar
Shanahan, T. M. et al. The time-transgressive termination of the African Humid Period. Nat. Geosci. 8, 140–144 (2015).
Google Scholar
Ladd, S. N. et al. Leaf wax hydrogen isotopes as a hydroclimate proxy in the Tropical Pacific. J. Geophys. Res. 126, e2020JG005891 (2021).
Dansgaard, W. Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus 16, 436–468 (1964).
Google Scholar
Munksgaard, N. C. et al. Data Descriptor: daily observations of stable isotope ratios of rainfall in the tropics. Sci. Rep. 9, 14419 (2019).
Google Scholar
Aggarwal, P. K. et al. Proportions of convective and stratiform precipitation revealed in water isotope ratios. Nat. Geosci. 9, 624–629 (2016).
Google Scholar
Zwart, C. et al. The isotopic signature of monsoon conditions, cloud modes, and rainfall type. Hydrol. Processes 32, 2296–2303 (2018).
Google Scholar
Jackson, B., Nicholson, S. E. & Klotter, D. Mesoscale convective systems over Western Equatorial Africa and their relationship to large-scale circulation. Mon. Weather Rev. 137, 1272–1294 (2009).
Google Scholar
Sorí, R., Nieto, R., Vicente-Serrano, S. M., Drumond, A. & Gimeno, L. A Lagrangian perspective of the hydrological cycle in the Congo River basin. Earth Syst. Dynam. 8, 653–675 (2017).
Google Scholar
International Atomic Energy Agency–World Meteorological Organization Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation: The GNIP Database (accessed May 2020); https://nucleus.iaea.org/wiser/index.aspx.
Sachse, D., Dawson, T. E. & Kahmen, A. Seasonal variation of leaf wax n-alkane production and δ2H values from the evergreen oak tree, Quercus agrifolia. Isotopes Environ. Health Stud. 51, 124–142 (2015).
Google Scholar
Huang, X., Zhao, B., Wang, K., Hu, Y. & Meyers, P. A. Seasonal variations of leaf wax n-alkane molecular composition and δD values in two subtropical deciduous tree species: results from a three-year monitoring program in central China. Org. Geochem. 118, 15–26 (2018).
Google Scholar
Botev, Z. I., Grotowski, J. F. & Kroese, D. P. Kernel density estimation via diffusion. Ann. Stat. 38, 2916–2957 (2010).
Google Scholar
Albrecht, R., Sebag, D. & Verrecchia, E. Organic matter decomposition: bridging the gap between Rock-Eval pyrolysis and chemical characterization (CPMAS 13C NMR). Biogeochemistry 122, 101–111 (2015).
Google Scholar
Matteodo, M. et al. Decoupling of topsoil and subsoil controls on organic matter dynamics in the Swiss Alps. Geoderma 330, 41–51 (2018).
Google Scholar
Malou, O. P. et al. The Rock-Eval® signature of soil organic carbon in arenosols of the Senegalese groundnut basin. How do agricultural practices matter? Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 301, 107030 (2020).
Google Scholar
Thoumazeau, A. et al. A new in-field indicator to assess the impact of land management on soil carbon dynamics. Geoderma 375, 114496 (2020).
Google Scholar
Cranwell, P. A. Diagenesis of free and bound lipids in terrestrial detritus deposited in a lacustrine sediment. Org. Geochem. 3, 79–89 (1981).
Google Scholar
Ofiti, N. O. E. et al. Warming promotes loss of subsoil carbon through accelerated degradation of plant-derived organic matter. Soil Biol. Biochem. 156, 108185 (2021).
Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. & Reimer, P. J. Extended 14C data base and revised CALIB 3.0 14C age calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, 215–230 (1993).
Google Scholar
Source: Ecology - nature.com