Abstract
Abstract. Agricultural land use on peatlands inevitably causes ongoing land surface subsidence resulting in a reduction of productivity. In addition, oxidation of the peat substrate associated with subsidence is responsible for greenhouse gas emission with the ensuing consequence for global climatic stability. A concept of “paludiculture”, the utilisation of wet or rewetted peatlands for agriculture, has been proposed in European countries to avoid further subsidence and greenhouse gas emission. However, few studies have documented a long-term record of subsidence through agriculture in wet peatlands such as paddy fields for rice cultivation. In this study, we measured the subsidence rates of peatland in rice paddy use and compared them to the rates in peatland with upland crop cultivation. The average subsidence between 2006 and 2016 for the paddy plots was 3.6±1.9 cm (± SE) and significantly less than that of 25.6±1.7 cm for the upland plots, and the subsidence reduced linearly as the period of paddy use increased. These results suggest that paddy use of peatlands can effectively reduce subsidence. Our results will encourage the use of peatlands with a wet environment as one of the valid options for future peatland management in terms of mitigation of land subsidence and peat loss.
Highlights
Drainage and land reclamation for agricultural use of peatlands inevitably causes ongoing land surface subsidence
Subsidence in reclaimed farmlands often lead to social, economic, and environmental troubles including reduction of agricultural productivity due to relative groundwater level rise, increased risks of inundation combined with sea-level rise (Zanello et al, 2011), and increased cost to maintain farmland productivity (Gambolati et al, 2006; Wösten et al, 1997)
We present the first quantitative comparison of the long-term peat subsidence rates between paddy and upland fields in Hokkaido to assess the potential of agricultural use of wet peatlands as a solution of peat subsidence-related problems
Summary
Drainage and land reclamation for agricultural use of peatlands inevitably causes ongoing land surface subsidence. Will the agricultural economic value of cultivated peatlands be lost, and the whole society will be adversely affected by the subsidence related problems. Appropriate land use management on agricultural peatlands is strongly required. Several techniques of land use management on cultivated peatlands has been proposed to mitigate further subsidence and greenhouse gas emission. Paludiculture, the agricultural use of wet or rewetted peatlands mainly for biomass production, has been discussed as a solution to the subsidence related problems in peatlands. It may effectively reduce the decomposition of organic material and, is acknowledged as a possible land use option on organic soils.
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