Effect of wildfires on tropical peatland vegetation in Meranti Islands District, Riau Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Silviana SH, Saharjo BH, Sutikno S. 2019. Effect of wildfires on tropical peatland vegetation in Meranti Islands District, Riau Province, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 3056-3062. Wildfires are one of the main causes of forest destruction, disturbing forest sustainability. Wildfires are mainly caused by human activities, such as land clearing, wood harvesting, draining, etc. Wildfires could induce the loss of vegetation. This study was aimed at assessing the effect of wildfires on both vegetation biomass and necromass on coastal peatland ecosystems in Sungaitohor Village, Tebing Tinggi Timur Sub-district, Meranti Islands District, Riau Province, Indonesia. Analysis of vegetation and both above and below the ground biomass composition were performed. The approach used a paired sample with 4 replications (n = 4 burnt, n=4 unburnt). The variables observed in every research sites was analyzed using Student-T test. Models were generated and then validated to understand the effect of fires on biomass. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the studied parameters between the unburned area and burned area (P <0.01). Wildfires affected the quantity of living plants (biomass) which was indicated by the fact that biomass is unburnt and burnt areas were in the ratio of 2.67 : 1. The quantity of dead plants (necromass) was greater in the burned plots than in the unburnt plots. All these findings suggest that high intensity of forest fires had occurred in the study sites.

Integrando os Serviços do Sistema de Consulta e Alerta de Poluição Causada pela Fumaça Decorrente do Fogo na Vegetação da Organização Meteorológica Mundial (VFSP-WAS-WMO) nas Políticas Públicas e Estratégias de Gestão Territorial: o Exemplo do Sudeste Asiático e Visões Globais

“…During the dry season, rainfall amounts are lower and GWLs drop, making peatlands very dry and prone to burning. This is especially true during extreme weather conditions and drought during El Niño years (Silviana et al, 2019a(Silviana et al, , 2019b). The highest level of fire risk based on GWL > 40cm (danger category) is 99.63% in March, making this region very vulnerable to forest fires.…”

“…behavor is determined by a number of interacting factors such as fuels, weather, topography as well as seasonal changes, time of day (Lorimer, 1990) and vegetation (Silviana et al, 2019a).…”

Penelitian Manajemen Pencegahan Kebakaran di Indonesia (Asap, Kabut Asap, Penurunan Emisi GRK, dan Deforestasi)

“…Groundwater level (>40 cm) can be used as an early warning system for risk of forest and land fire dangers (Silviana et al, 2019) because peatland fire occurrent is preceded by low water levels in peatlands. During the dry season, rainfall amounts are lower and GWLs drop, making peatlands very dry and prone to burning.…”

“…During the dry season, rainfall amounts are lower and GWLs drop, making peatlands very dry and prone to burning. This is especially true during extreme weather conditions and drought during El Niño years (Silviana, 2019, Silviana et al, 2020. The highest level of fire risk based on GWL> 40 cm (danger category) is 99.63% in March, making this region very vulnerable to forest fires.…”

Vegetation composition on peatlands with different fire frequency in Musi Banyuasin, South Sumatra

“…The data we retrieved were names and number of species for understoreys, seedlings, and saplings, species, population size, diameter, and height for poles and trees. Vegetation data collection was carried out by making sample plots on burnt areas using purposive sampling with an observation plot size of 20 x 20 m. Afterward, the plot was divided into subplots using the nested sampling method, where the subplot sizes were 20 x 20 m for the trees, 10 x 10 m for poles, 5 x 5 m for the saplings, and 2 x 2 m for seedlings and understoreys (Silviana et al 2019). At each location, the vegetation was observed once, twice, three, and four times.…”