The hardcore CongoPeat roaming field team are exploring a new river system (Ruki, Busira) in the DRC, testing the accuracy of our peatland maps and new data.
On 9 July scientists Bart Crezee and Dr Greta Dargie (University of Leeds), Professor Corneille Ewango and Joseph Kanyama (University of Kisangani), Dr Nick Girkin (University of Nottingham) and colleagues from Mbandaka University finished sampling the first 10 kilometre transect. So far the maps are good and peat 4 metres deep has been found.
The sampling included:
- 240 individual measurements of peat surface hydraulic conductivity for Professor Andy Baird
- 80 measurements of tree stem and peat surface greenhouse gas fluxes
- 32 measurements of peat depth, 8 cores for measuring peat carbon, and 5 cores for paleoecological analyses
- 10 plots assessing plant species composition and above-ground biomass
After their fantastic work, the team takes a day off before heading out to two further 7km transects to continue the sampling. We’re excited to find out what this data will show us.