Articles | Volume 23, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-5653-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-5653-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
17 Aug 2026
Research article |
| 17 Aug 2026
| 17 Aug 2026
Long-term patterns of peat accumulation and organic matter decomposition in Costa Rican peatlands
Hannah Mitchell
Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, 89557, USA
Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, 89557, USA
Jacklyn Rivera Wong
Ministerio de Ambiente y Energia, Gobierno de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
Alessandra C. Leri
Department of Natural Sciences, Marymount Manhattan College, 221 E 71st St., New York, NY 10021, USA
Mia Allison
Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, 89557, USA
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Julie Loisel, Angela Gallego-Sala, Daniela Ransby, Emily Rabel, Cornelia Behrens, Stefanie Schumacher, Kathe Todd-Brown, Vaasuki Marupaka, and the C-PEAT Working Group Members
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-222, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-222, 2026
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
Over the past few decades, a lot of field-based work has been performed around the world to describe the carbon-sink capacity of peatland ecosystems. Here we provide a synthesis product that includes stratigraphic and chronological data from 267 peatland cores. Each one of these datasets is individually downloadable and openly usable through PANGAEA. We also provide scripts (R and Python) to download portions of the database.
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Short summary
The peatlands of Central America are vastly understudied, despite their role as long-term carbon stores. This study presents 9 new peat-core datasets from different landscapes found across Costa Rica. Our approach includes multiple paleoenvironmental tools that provide peatland ages, peat-soil geochemical characteristics, and ecological succession histories. The total peat carbon store in Costa Rica is estimated at 0.15 gigatonnes and the averaged peatland carbon stock is 1080 Mg C/ha.
The peatlands of Central America are vastly understudied, despite their role as long-term carbon...
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