1. Tropical peatlands, which provide important functions such as biodiversity provisioning and carbon (C) storage, are currently threatened by land-use conversions.Thus, conservation and restoration efforts are needed to maintain their functions.Conservation concepts aiming to separate human from ecosystems are no longer conceivable. Therefore, understanding peatland resilience to human disturbance, that is the ability of peatland ecosystems to maintain their structure and function despite perturbations and to return to their predisturbance states, can assist with integrating human needs into conservation strategies and improving restoration effectiveness.2. Understanding ecosystem resilience is often impeded by a lack of long-term data, which can be obtained from palaeoecological studies. Located close to the archaeological remains of the Malayu Empire, the Sungai Buluh peatland in Sumatra, Indonesia provides an opportunity to study the resilience of a tropical peatland to past human disturbance. We subjected a 250-cm-long peat core to palynological, charcoal and C content analyses to delineate the anthropogenic impact on the peatland and the ecosystem's response.3. The results revealed that extensive human activities in Sungai Buluh such as logging, grazing/cut-and-carry, and wild-harvesting started soon after humans occupied the vicinity of the peatland c. 1,000 cal yr bp. Even without fire use and cultivation, these activities were able to alter vegetation composition and decrease the peatland's C sequestration capacity. 4. Following site abandonment after the demise of the Malayu Empire at c. 600 cal yr bp, the palaeoecological record suggests that the Sungai Buluh peatland recovered in terms of both floristic composition and C sink function, with the latter recovering faster (c. 60 years) than the former (c. 170 years). 5. Synthesis. The palaeoecological record from Sungai Buluh provides the first evidence of tropical peatland recovery following human disturbance, which can help improve present peatland conservation/restoration strategies. The design of peatland wise-use strategies can mimic the "resilience-friendly" human activities identified in this study. Consideration should also be given to selecting rapidly the 170-year recovery time of the Sungai Buluh peatland suggests that the 60year timeframe currently allocated in most tropical peatland restoration projects may be insufficient. K E Y W O R D S ecosystem function and services, human activities, local policy, natural recovery, palaeoecology and land-use history, peat carbon sink, restoration design, sustainable use | 2475 Journal of Ecology HAPSARI et Al.
Science fields, including tropical peatland research, are facing persistent under-representation of women. In this perspective piece, we explore, as women at different stages of our career, our personal experiences of ‘what is it like to be a woman working in tropical peatland science’? We collected our responses and analysed them thematically. Although we come from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures, our responses all dealt with common issues, such as from practical challenges of being women in the field, persistent sexism, issues of harassment to navigating the politics of research as a woman. The peat swamp is seen as a site of rebellion against traditional gender roles. Senior female role models were also vital for us all, which highlights that mentoring schemes in aquatic and wetland research, as in other science fields, need further consideration and investment. Continuing to improve gender balance is central to effecting a positive change in research culture, and we stress that the issue of the ‘bravado’ surrounding fieldwork needs to be further explored and challenged. By pushing these ‘limits’ both in the field and in the academy, we will not only produce a more equal and compassionate working environment, but also ultimately improve our science.
The identification and quantification of natural carbon (C) sinks is critical to global climate change mitigation efforts. Tropical coastal wetlands are considered important in this context, yet knowledge of their dynamics and quantitative data are still scarce. In order to quantify the C accumulation rate and understand how it is influenced by land use and climate change, a palaeoecological study was conducted in the mangrove‐fringed Segara Anakan Lagoon (SAL) in Java, Indonesia. A sediment core was age‐dated and analyzed for its pollen and spore, elemental and biogeochemical compositions. The results indicate that environmental dynamics in the SAL and its C accumulation over the past 400 years were controlled mainly by climate oscillations and anthropogenic activities. The interaction of these two factors changed the lagoon's sediment supply and salinity, which consequently altered the organic matter composition and deposition in the lagoon. Four phases with varying climates were identified. While autochthonous mangrove C was a significant contributor to carbon accumulation in SAL sediments throughout all four phases, varying admixtures of terrestrial C from the hinterland also contributed, with natural mixed forest C predominating in the early phases and agriculture soil C predominating in the later phases. In this context, climate‐related precipitation changes are an overarching control, as surface water transport through rivers serves as the “delivery agent” for the outcomes of the anthropogenic impact in the catchment area into the lagoon. Amongst mangrove‐dominated ecosystems globally, the SAL is one of the most effective C sinks due to high mangrove carbon input in combination with a high allochthonous carbon input from anthropogenically enhanced sediment from the hinterland and increased preservation. Given the substantial C sequestration capacity of the SAL and other mangrove‐fringed coastal lagoons, conservation and restoration of these ecosystems is vitally important for climate change mitigation.
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