Abstract
Indonesian peatlands are critical to the global carbon cycle, but they also support a large number of local economies. Intense forest clearing and draining in these peatlands is causing severe ecological and environmental impacts. Most studies highlighted increased carbon emission in the region through drought and large‐scale fires, further accelerating peatland degradation. Yet, little is known about the long-term impacts of human-induced disturbance on peatland hydrology in the tropics. Here we show that converting natural peat forests to plantations can significantly alter the hydrological system far worse than previously recognized, leading to amplified moisture stress and drought severity. This study quantified how human-induced changes to Indonesian peatlands have affected drought severity. Through field observations and modelling, we demonstrate that canalization doubled drought severity; logging and starting plantations even quadrupled drought severity. Recognizing the importance of peatlands to Indonesia, proper management, and rehabilitating peatlands remain the only viable option for continued plantation use.
Highlights
Indonesian peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle and the local economy
Hydrological model performance in simulating groundwater levels The hydrological model, Soil Water Atmosphere Plant (SWAP), was able to simulate the dynamics of groundwater levels in Indonesian peatland successfully
The underestimated ponding for pristine forest is not a major issue as our study focused on the impact of peatland transformation in dry periods
Summary
Indonesian peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle and the local economy. Because of the growing demand for agricultural land and the availability of peatlands on flat topography, large areas of peatlands have been converted from forest to plantation over the last two decades (Koh et al 2011). By 2010, 2.3 million hectares of peat-swamp forests were cleared by large scale agricultural and forestry industries, about half of the forests in Kalimantan and Sumatra (Koh et al 2011). Land users often drain sections of peat by building canals (canalization), start plantations. Extensive clearing and draining (Abood et al 2015, Hohner and Dreschel 2015, Nungesser et al 2015, Curtis et al 2018, Turner and Mcclenachan 2018) have degraded the peatlands, causing drought-induced wildfire (Taufik et al 2017, 2019a), and caused peatland to become a net source of carbon (Baccini et al 2017, Wijedasa et al 2018)
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