Will CO2 Emissions from Drained Tropical Peatlands Decline Over Time? Links Between Soil Organic Matter Quality, Nutrients, and C Mineralization Rates

Swails, Erin; Jaye, Dyanna; Verchot, Louis V.; Hergoualc’h, Kristell; Schirrmann, Michael; Borchard, Nils; Wahyuni, Novi Sari; Lawrence, Deborah

doi:10.1007/s10021-017-0190-4

Cited by 30 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Here, soil respiration along the conversion gradient increased with decreasing soil C:N ratio (Table 4), and so the higher respiration in the OP as compared to the result by Hassler et al (2015) may be linked to the smaller C:N ratio of our soil as compared to that of the soils inspected by Hassler et al (C:N of 13). Higher rates of soil organic C decomposition with decreasing soil C:N ratio are consistent with findings by, for example, Swails et al (2018) for peat soils of Indonesia. Soil respiration along the LUS transition was also markedly linked to changes in soil N content and litterfall quantity and quality.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

et al. 2020

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Replacement of forest by agricultural systems is a major factor accelerating the emissions of greenhouse gases; however, related field studies in the tropics are very scarce. To evaluate the impact of forest transition to plantations on soil methane (CH 4) and respiration (CO 2) fluxes, we conducted measurements in an undisturbed forest, a disturbed forest, young and old rubber plantations, and an oil palm plantation on mineral soil in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia. Methane fluxes and their controlling variables were monitored monthly over fourteen months; soil respiration was measured less frequently. All of the plantations were managed by smallholders and had never been fertilized. To assess the effect of common management practices in oil palm plantations, we added urea at a rate of 33.3 kg N/ha and thereafter monitored intensively soil CH 4 fluxes. The soil acted as a sink for CH 4 (kg CH 4-CÁha −1 Áyr −1) in the undisturbed forest (−1.4 AE 1.0) and young rubber plantation (−1.7 AE 0.7). This was not the case in the other land-use systems which had fluxes similar to fluxes in the undisturbed forest, with 0.4 AE 0.9, −0.2 AE 0.3, and 0.2 AE 0.7 kgÁha −1 Áyr −1 in the disturbed forest, old rubber plantation, and oil palm plantation, respectively. In the oil palm plantation, there was no inhibitory effect of nitrogenous fertilizer on methanotrophy. Annual soil respiration (Mg CO 2-CÁha −1 Áyr −1) was higher in the oil palm plantation (17.1 AE 1.9) than in the undisturbed forest (13.9 AE 1.2) while other land-use systems respired at a similar level to the undisturbed forest (13.1 AE 1.4, 15.9 AE 1.7, and 14.1 AE 1.0 in the disturbed forest, young, and old rubber plantations, respectively). Substrate (litterfall and soil) availability and quality exerted a strong control over annual fluxes of both gases along the land-use gradient. Temporal variation in CH 4 was extremely high and in respiration fluxes was moderate, but was not specifically linked to seasonal variation. Further comprehensive and long-term research is critically needed to determine more thoroughly the direction and magnitude of changes in soil trace gas emissions as affected by forest-to-plantation conversion in the tropics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

et al. 2020

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“…This is in line with Nilsson and Bohlin (1993), who found that more decomposed peat soils produced more CO 2 than less decomposed, more fibrous peat soils in temperate climate. In contrast, incubation studies by Jauhiainen et al (2016) and Swails et al (2017) showed that soils from degraded peatlands with secondary regrowth or cultivated with oil palm produced less CO 2 than soils from intact peat swamp forests. However, the degraded peatlands of Indonesia were drained and burnt, while sites in our study were not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Greenhouse gas emissions along a peat swamp forest degradation gradient in the Peruvian Amazon: soil moisture and palm roots effects

Lent

Hergoualc’h

Verchot

et al. 2018

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

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Tropical peatlands in the Peruvian Amazon exhibit high densities of Mauritia flexuosa palms, which are often cut instead of being climbed for collecting their fruits. This is an important type of forest degradation in the region that could lead to changes in the structure and composition of the forest, quality and quantity of inputs to the peat, soil properties, and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. We studied peat and litterfall characteristics along a forest degradation gradient that included an intact site, a moderately degraded site, and a heavily degraded site. To understand underlying factors driving GHG emissions, we examined the response of in vitro soil microbial GHG emissions to soil moisture variation, and we tested the potential of pneumatophores to conduct GHGs in situ. The soil phosphorus and carbon content and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio as well as the litterfall nitrogen content and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio were significantly affected by forest degradation. Soils from the degraded sites consistently produced more carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) than soils from the intact site during in vitro incubations. The response of CO 2 production to changes in water-filled pore space (WFPS) followed a cubic polynomial relationship with maxima at 60-70% at the three sites. Methane (CH 4 ) was produced in limited amounts and exclusively under watersaturated conditions. There was no significant response of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions to WFPS variation. Lastly, the density of pneumatophore decreased drastically as the result of forest degradation and was positively correlated to in situ CH 4 emissions. We conclude that CIAT, Cali, Colombia recurrent M. flexuosa harvesting could result in a significant increase of in situ CO 2 fluxes and a simultaneous decrease in CH 4 emissions via pneumatophores. These changes might alter long-term carbon and GHG balances of the peat, and the role of these ecosystems for climate change mitigation, which stresses the need for their protection.

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“…Mean annual site‐scale emissions (161–226 kg C ha −1 year −1 , Table 6) are about seven times higher than the average reported for intact peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia (29 kg C ha −1 year −1 ; Hergoualc’h & Verchot, 2014). High CH 4 emissions in comparison with those of Southeast Asia could be associated with a higher quality of organic matter (Swails et al., 2017) containing lower levels of lignin (Hatano et al., 2016). They could also be related to higher WT at our sites (0.2–7 cm at the site scale) than on average in undrained peat swamp forests of Southeast Asia (−18 ± 6 cm; Hergoualc’h & Verchot, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Degradation induced a higher hollow-to-hummock proportion at the degraded sites (91%-96%) (Table 2) is typical of damp peat soils (e.g. Oktarita et al, 2017;Swails et al, 2017) and reflects an inhibition of nitrification due to limitation in O 2 supply. This inhibition is evidenced by the low net nitrification rates, especially at the Intact site.…”

Section: Wt (Cm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal variability of soil N₂O and CH₄ fluxes along a degradation gradient in a palm swamp peat forest in the Peruvian Amazon

Hergoualc’h

Dezzeo

Verchot

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Will CO2 Emissions from Drained Tropical Peatlands Decline Over Time? Links Between Soil Organic Matter Quality, Nutrients, and C Mineralization Rates

Cited by 30 publications

References 87 publications

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

Greenhouse gas emissions along a peat swamp forest degradation gradient in the Peruvian Amazon: soil moisture and palm roots effects

Spatial and temporal variability of soil N₂O and CH₄ fluxes along a degradation gradient in a palm swamp peat forest in the Peruvian Amazon

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Will CO2 Emissions from Drained Tropical Peatlands Decline Over Time? Links Between Soil Organic Matter Quality, Nutrients, and C Mineralization Rates

Cited by 30 publications

References 87 publications

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

Greenhouse gas emissions along a peat swamp forest degradation gradient in the Peruvian Amazon: soil moisture and palm roots effects

Spatial and temporal variability of soil N2O and CH4 fluxes along a degradation gradient in a palm swamp peat forest in the Peruvian Amazon

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Spatial and temporal variability of soil N₂O and CH₄ fluxes along a degradation gradient in a palm swamp peat forest in the Peruvian Amazon