Abstract
Tropical peat swamp forests are carbon-rich ecosystems that have been threatened by high rates of land use change (LUC). Despite the ecosystem’s shifts from sequestering carbon (C) to emitting carbon, few studies have quantified the changes in ecosystem productivity associated with LUC in tropical peatlands. This study quantified net primary production (NPP) in intact peat swamp forests (PSF), logged forests (LPSF), early seral sites (ES), and smallholder oil palm plantations (OP) in a peat dome of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. All sites were dominated by peat forest prior to deforestation. The NPP of intact forests was 13.2 Mg C ha−1 year−1 making it among the world’s most productive terrestrial ecosystems, exceeding that of many tropical rainforests and similar to the most productive mangrove ecosystems (12.9 Mg C ha−1 year−1). Land cover change resulted in large shifts in NPP. Logged forest and early seral sites were < 11.1 Mg C ha−1 year−1. The NPP of oil palm plantations was 3.7 Mg C ha−1 year−1. Aboveground NPP was recorded at 10.5 Mg C ha−1 year−1 in forests, exceeding the NPP of LPSF, ES, and OP (8.9, 5.1, and 3.5 Mg C ha−1 year−1, respectively). Early seral sites (5.7 Mg C ha−1 year−1) were estimated to have the highest belowground NPP (p = 0.05). Root productivity in PSF, LPSF, and OP was 2.7, 2.1, and 0.2 Mg C ha−1 year−1, respectively. Land use change and forest degradation have reduced the productivity of tropical peatlands.
Highlights
Global deforestation and land use change in forests have contributed significantly to the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from terrestrial ecosystems
To understand the role of peat swamp forest ecosystems as sources and sinks of GHG, it is crucial to determine the shifts in net primary production (NPP) that result from degradation of peat swamp forests (PSF) into logged PSF (LPSF) and their conversion into early seral (ES) sites and oil palm (OP) plantations
Our specific research questions included: How much is the NPP of intact, undisturbed peat swamp forests? How does this differ due to logging? How much is the NPP of early seral sites and oil palm plantations on sites which were previously PSF? How much are the changes in NPP caused by logging, logging and fire, and land conversion? And how do these compare to the estimated NPP in other ecosystems?
Summary
Global deforestation and land use change in forests have contributed significantly to the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from terrestrial ecosystems. The area used for oil palm, which in 2010 covered about 880,000 ha of Indonesian and Malaysian peatlands (Koh et al 2011), has since increased to 2,046,000 ha (about 30% of Indonesia’s remaining peat swamp forest area), reaching approximately 3 million ha across the region of Southeast. Asia (Miettinen et al 2016) This conversion of forests to oil palm was estimated by Koh et al (2011) to result in losses of about 140 terra gram (Tg C = 1012 g C) of carbon. Only a few field studies to date have examined the impact of peat forest conversion on the ecosystem’s carbon emissions in Southeast Asia
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