Carbon Leaching from Tropical Peat Soils and Consequences for Carbon Balances

Rixen, Tim; Wit, Francisca; Samiaji, Joko

doi:10.3389/feart.2016.00074

Cited by 37 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous research on the effects of peat swamp forest disturbance has predominately focused on direct atmospheric GHG emissions from the peat surface (Couwenberg et al, 2010;Hooijer et al, 2010;Page et al, 2011;Hirano et al, 2012;Matysek et al, 2017). Until fairly recently, fluvial carbon losses received less attention, but more recent data suggest that this flux can represent a substantial fraction of the tropical peatland carbon balance (Moore et al, 2013;Evans et al, 2014;Rixen et al, 2016;Yupi et al, 2017). Fluvial total organic carbon (TOC) is typically dominated by dissolved organic carbon (DOC), with particulate organic car-bon (POC) contributing < 10 % of the total flux (Moore et al, 2013;Yupi et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous attempts to quantify fluvial carbon losses from tropical peatlands include Moore et al (2013), Gandois et al (2013), Wit et al (2015), Rixen et al (2016), and Yupi et al (2016). Moore et al (2013) reported that losses of DOC from disturbed tropical peatlands in Indonesia were around 50 % greater than those from an adjacent intact peat swamp forest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Intact tropical peatlands are dense long-term stores of carbon. However, the future security of these ecosystems is at risk from land conversion and extensive peatland drainage. This can enhance peat oxidation and convert long-term carbon sinks into significant carbon sources. In Southeast Asia, the largest land use on peatland is for oil palm plantation agriculture. Here, we present the first annual estimate of exported fluvial organic carbon in the drainage waters of four peatland oil palm plantation areas in Sarawak, Malaysia. Total organic carbon (TOC) fluxes from the plantation second-and third-order drains were dominated (91 %) by dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and ranged from 34.4 ± 9.7 C m −2 yr −1 to 57.7 %, 16.3 g C m −2 yr −1 (± 95 % confidence interval). These fluxes represent a single-year survey which was strongly influenced by an El Ninõ event and therefore lower discharge than usual was observed. The magnitude of the flux was found to be influenced by water table depth, with higher TOC fluxes observed from more deeply drained sites. Radiocarbon dating on the DOC component indicated the presence of old (pre-1950s) carbon in all samples collected, with DOC at the most deeply drained site having a mean age of 735 years. Overall, our estimates suggest fluvial TOC contributes ∼ 5 % of total carbon losses from oil palm plantations on peat. Maintenance of high and stable water tables in oil palm plantations appears to be key to minimising TOC losses. This reinforces the importance of considering all carbon loss pathways, rather than just CO 2 emissions from the peat surface, in studies of tropical peatland land conversion.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In peat dominated ecosystems such as the Páramo, changes in rainfall and temperature fluctuations as well as LC/LU changes are directly and strongly related to soil carbon losses (Freeman, Evans, & Monteith, 2001;Rixen, Baum, Wit, & Samiaji, 2016). The impact of a number of climatic and LC/LU related factors (e.g., temperature increase, deforestation, or droughts), which influence dissolved organic carbon (DOC) mobilization, has already been observed in other ecosystems in temperate regions (Borken, Ahrens, Schulz, & Zimmermann, 2011;Freeman et al, 2001;Laine, Strömmer, & Arvola, 2014;Sarkkola et al, 2009;Stutter, Langan, & Cooper, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of land cover and hydro‐meteorological controls on soil water DOC concentrations in a high‐elevation tropical environment

Pesántez

Mosquera

Crespo

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Páramo soils store high amounts of organic carbon. However, the effects of climate change and changes in land cover and use (LC/LU) in this high‐elevation tropical ecosystem may cause a decrease in their carbon storage capacity. Therefore, better understanding of the factors influencing the Páramo soils' carbon storage and export is urgently needed. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the differences in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content in the soil water of four LC/LU types (tussock grass, natural forest, pine plantations, and pasture) and the factors controlling its variability in the Quinuas Ecohydrological Observatory in south Ecuador. Weekly measurements of soil water DOC concentrations, meteorological variables, soil water content, and temperature from various depths and slope positions were monitored within the soils' organic and mineral horizons between October 2014 and January 2017. These data were used to generate regression trees and random forest statistical models to identify the factors controlling soil water DOC concentrations. From high to low concentrations, natural forest depict the highest DOC concentrations followed by pasture, tussock grass, and pine forest. For all LC/LU types, DOC concentrations increase with decreasing soil moisture. Our results also show that LC/LU is the most important predictor of soil water DOC concentrations, followed by sampling depth and soil moisture. Interestingly, atmospheric variables and antecedent evapotranspiration and precipitation conditions show only little influence on DOC concentrations during the monitoring period. Our findings provide unique information that can help improve the management of soil and water resources in the Páramo and other peat dominated ecosystems elsewhere.

show abstract

“…However, during rising tide in Sarikei, we observed pCO 2 values of almost 6000 µatm, which is higher than the freshwater end-member, suggesting that other effects also play a role. Among those are decomposition of organic matter in intertidal sediments (Alongi et al, 1999;Cai et al, 1999) and subsequent transport of the produced CO 2 to the river, as well as groundwater input (Rosentreter et al, 2018).…”

Section: Impact Of the Peatlands On The Co 2 Emissions From The Rajanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of peatlands on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the Rajang River and Estuary, Malaysia

Müller-Dum¹,

Warneke²,

Rixen³

et al. 2018

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Tropical peat-draining rivers are known as potentially large sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere due to high loads of carbon they receive from surrounding soils. However, not many seasonally resolved data are available, limiting our understanding of these systems. We report the first measurements of carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) in the Rajang River and Estuary, the longest river in Malaysia. The Rajang River catchment is characterized by extensive peat deposits found in the delta region, and by human impact such as logging, land use and river damming. pCO2 averaged 2919&#8201;&#177;&#8201;573&#8201;&#181;atm during the wet season and 2732&#8201;&#177;&#8201;443&#8201;&#181;atm during the dry season. This is at the low end of reported values for Southeast Asian peat-draining rivers, but higher than values reported for Southeast Asian rivers that do not flow through peat deposits. However, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and &#948;13C-DIC data did not suggest that peatlands were an important source of inorganic carbon to the river, with an average DIC concentration of 203.9&#8201;&#177;&#8201;59.6&#8201;&#181;mol&#8201;L&#8722;1 and an average &#948;13C-DIC of &#8722;8.06&#8201;&#177;&#8201;1.90&#8201;&#8240;. Also, compared to rivers with similar peat coverage, the pCO2 in the Rajang was rather low. Thus, we suggest that peat coverage is, by itself, insufficient as sole predictor of CO2 emissions from peat-draining rivers, and that other factors, like the spatial distribution of peat in the catchment and pH, need to be considered as well. In the Rajang River, peatlands probably do not contribute much to the CO2 flux due to the proximity of the peatlands to the coast. CO2 fluxes to the atmosphere were 2.28&#8201;&#177;&#8201;0.52&#8201;gC&#8201;m&#8722;2&#8201;d&#8722;1 (wet season) and 2.45&#8201;&#177;&#8201;0.45&#8201;gC&#8201;m&#8722;2&#8201;d&#8722;1 (dry season), making the Rajang River a moderate source of carbon to the atmosphere.

show abstract

Carbon Leaching from Tropical Peat Soils and Consequences for Carbon Balances

Cited by 37 publications

References 25 publications

Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland

Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland

Effect of land cover and hydro‐meteorological controls on soil water DOC concentrations in a high‐elevation tropical environment

Impact of peatlands on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions from the Rajang River and Estuary, Malaysia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Carbon Leaching from Tropical Peat Soils and Consequences for Carbon Balances

Cited by 37 publications

References 25 publications

Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland

Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland

Effect of land cover and hydro‐meteorological controls on soil water DOC concentrations in a high‐elevation tropical environment

Impact of peatlands on carbon dioxide (CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) emissions from the Rajang River and Estuary, Malaysia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Impact of peatlands on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions from the Rajang River and Estuary, Malaysia