A probabilistic map of Costa Rican peatlands based on vegetation, ecosystem, and soil inventories

This article presents the first published peatland map for Costa Rica. A probabilistic approach using vegetation, ecosystem, and soil datasets was used to predict the distribution and extent of peatlands found below 700 m in elevation. High-elevation sites found in the Talamanca Mountains were manually identified using satellite imagery; those peatlands are small in size (< 0.05 km²). Our analysis produced an estimated low-elevation peatland extent of 1433 km² and a high-elevation peatland extent of 23.08 km², yielding an estimated total extent of 1456 km² for Costa Rica. This figure falls close to the middle of previously published extent estimates for this country, which vary widely (577-2670 km²). An agreement analysis between previously published maps and this new product is also presented. Plotting the peatland area of Costa Rica in a climate space (mean annual precipitation vs. precipitation seasonality) highlights key climatic differences between our peatland types/regions, hinting at broad-scale effects of climate-landscape interactions. As for the probability map therein, we stress that its accuracy is limited by data availability and quality, as well as ground-referencing information. Still, the new product can provide guidance for land management, policymaking, and future science endeavors.