DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3r2280gsd
title: Ecohydrological response of a tropical peatland to rainfall changes driven by intertropical convergence zone variability

description: Aim: Tropical peatlands are globally significant carbon stores,
 increasingly threatened by human activities and climate change. However,
 their ecohydrological responses to shifting water availability remain
 poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the connections between
 climate change, hydrology, and vegetation dynamics in a coastal tropical
 peatland in Panama, aiming to understand the effects of future drying on
 peatland dynamics. Location: Bocas del Toro, Panama (9°22'54”N,
 82°21'59”W) Taxon: Angiosperms Methods: High-resolution multiproxy
 palaeoecological data, including pollen and plant macrofossils
 (vegetation), testate amoebae (water-table depth), and physical peat
 properties, are used to explore the relationships between climate change,
 hydrology, and vegetation in a coastal tropical peatland over the past 700
 years. Downscaled climate simulations are integrated with this
 process-based understanding to project the likely future responses of this
 coastal peatland to climate change. Results: We identify a clear
 connection between precipitation variability, driven by shifts in the
 Intertropical Convergence Zone, and water-table dynamics, which
 subsequently influence changes in the peatland vegetation mosaic.
 Historical drier periods are marked by the expansion of shrub communities
 into the open peatland plain. Main Conclusions: Palaeoecological studies
 incorporating climate and hydrological proxies are essential for
 understanding both recent and future ecohydrological dynamics of tropical
 peatlands. Our findings suggest that in response to future climate change,
 water tables will lower, and shrub communities will expand due to rising
 temperatures and reduced precipitation. Additionally, future sea-level
 rise, combined with declining rainfall, may result in seawater intrusion
 and significant vegetation shifts in coastal tropical peatlands.
description: Data was collected from Oropel peat core using palaeoecological
 methods. 
description: # Ecohydrological response of a tropical peatland to rainfall changes
 driven by intertropical convergence zone variability Access this dataset
 at
 [http://datadryad.org/stash/share/C4bYM0-8PpUynSSLf_Nb-wnHTxFvA8bkyVVqRoewPng](http://datadryad.org/stash/share/C4bYM0-8PpUynSSLf_Nb-wnHTxFvA8bkyVVqRoewPng) This file contains multiproxy palaeoecological data from a core from Oropel Swamp, Panama. The site is located here: 9°22′54″N, 82°21′59″W. High-resolution multiproxy palaeoecological data, including pollen and plant macrofossils (vegetation), testate amoebae (water-table depth), and physical peat properties, are used to explore the relationships between climate change, hydrology, and vegetation in a coastal tropical peatland over the past 700 years. Downscaled climate simulations are integrated with this process-based understanding to project the likely future responses of this coastal peatland to climate change. ## Description of the data and file structure The data are provided as an Excel file with four tabs. Please contact [g.swindles@qub.ac.uk](mailto:g.swindles@qub.ac.uk) if you need to discuss the data. Data provided: **CN tab** *Description: Elemental analysis of peat cores.* % Carbon (Percentage) % Nitrogen (Percentage) % Hydrogen (Percentage) C/N Ratio (Carbon/Nitrogen ratio) C/H Ratio (Carbon/Hydrogen ratio) **LOI tab** *Description: Loss-on-ignition analysis of peat cores through ignition to determine organic content.* % Loss-on-ignition (Percentage) **TA tab** *Description: Testate amoebae (percentage data and count), water table and moisture content reconstructions (including errors max and min developed from bootstrapping).* NMDS AXIS 1 = NMDS Axis one scores (Non-metric MultiDimensional Scaling). No units. WTD = Water-table depth mean (cm) WTDMIN = Water-table depth maximum (cm) WTDMAX = Water-table depth minimum (cm) MC = Moisture content mean (%) MCMAX = Moisture content maximum (%) MCMIN = Moisture content minimum (%) **Macros tab** *Description: % and individual count plant macrofossil data (units are indicated)* **Pollen tab** *Description: % Pollen data and pollen count sum.* ## Sharing/Access information Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: N/A Data was derived from the following sources: Published paper in J. Biogeography.