Comparison of Selected Chemical Properties of Peat Swamp Soil Before and After Timber Harvesting

Salimin Salimin

doi:10.3844/ajessp.2010.164.167

Abstract

Problem statement: Peat swamp is an important component of the world’s wetlands. Once they are disturbed the tendency for the soil degradation is very high. This study compared selected chemical properties of a peat swamp soil before and after timber harvesting. Approach: Peat soil samples were taken at 0-15 cm depth in 6 plots with 0.1 ha each plot at Batang Igan forest at Sibu Sarawak, Malaysia. The soil samples were analyzed for selected soil chemical properties. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 9.2. Results: The tropical peat swamp forest indicate its specific natural state such as rich in soil pH KCl and except for C/N ratio, the selected chemical properties such as soil pH water, cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter, total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and exchangeable potassium were significantly different between before and after timber harvesting. Conclusion: Timber harvesting has significant effect on chemical properties of peat swamp.

Highlights

Peat soil is defined as the accumulation of 100% pure organic material
A soil is considered to be peat if the organic soil is more than half of the upper soil or if organic soil material is deposited on rock or having filled up with organic materials (Mohamed et al, 2002)
There was no significant difference between the C/N of before and after timber harvesting

Summary

Introduction

Peat soil is defined as the accumulation of 100% pure organic material. Peat is an organic soil that contains at least 65% organic matter or less than 35% mineral content. Peat soil can be classified based on profile partition where out of 100 cm there are 50 cm of organic soil matter or more than twice or mineral soil material is twice which overlay on bedrock within 50 cm. Peat soils called organic soils which are formed in the surface layers. They occur in three geomorphic situations, lowland coastal swamps, inland swamps and valleys and high altitude which are free draining situations and highland swamps. Most peat swamps are generally elevated 4-9 m above the adjacent river courses and the surface slopes vary gently between 1-2 m km−1 (Andriesse, 1988)

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