Peatland Conditions Research Articles

Bioindication in peatlands by means of multi-taxa indicators (Oribatida, Araneae, Carabidae, Vegetation)

Abstract Peatlands host a large number of highly specialised species and are important carbon storage and freshwater reservoirs, but are heavily threatened by, e.g., peat extraction and drainage. For improved protection of peatlands, the development of an ecological assessment system is necessary. Existing systems based, for instance, on peat formation and water level are rather coarse and differ between countries. The aim of the present study was therefore to evaluate the predictive power of biodiversity indicators – particularly invertebrates (Oribatida, Araneae, Carabidae) and vegetation – for more finely reflecting environmental conditions in Sphagnum-dominated peatlands in order to determine which taxonomic groups should be included in an ecological assessment system for peatlands. Therefore, we selected three plots in each of four peatland study sites in a German low mountain range and sampled the taxonomic groups using standard methods appropriate to represent assemblage structure and site diversity (Oribatida: Sphagnum samples; Araneae, Carabidae: pitfalls traps; vegetation: vegetation surveys). Our results indicate the necessity of implementing different taxonomic groups into an overall ecological assessment system, as all of them reacted differently to different ecological gradients. Oribatid mites were the best predictors of moisture, one of the most important factors in peatlands. Ground-dwelling spiders responded to several different factors; most remarkably, they strongly correlated with landscape area covered by peatland-related Natura 2000 habitat types, as a proxy for habitat quality. Carabidae most strongly correlated with the size of the Sphagnum plots, moss cover and moisture, but their species richness was very low. Vegetation, as the best established indicator group in peatlands, showed the weakest correlations to the tested environmental parameters, probably due to short-term changes in environmental conditions and a delayed response of the plant community. Hence, the set of most relevant environmental parameters can only be represented when multiple taxa are included in an assessment system. Also, overall biodiversity is not represented by a single taxon, because the correlation in assemblage similarity between the taxonomic groups was low. Considering ecological sensitivity, sampling effort (=number of samples and necessary site visits), taxonomic stability and state of knowledge on species’ habitat requirements, we therefore suggest the inclusion of ground-dwelling spiders, oribatid mites and vegetation in an ecological assessment system for peatlands, complemented by a few sensitive, easy to recognize indicator species of other taxonomic groups.

Drought Index for Peatland Wildfire Management in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia During El Niño Phenomenon

Peatland wildfires, especially in tropical ecosystems, are often caused by drought, and lead to smoke and other related problems in all aspects of community life in Indonesia, especially in Central Kalimantan. Drought is worsened by the number of dry days in the dry season, known as the El Niño phenomenon, and the drainage system in a peatland. Additionally, drought decreases the water table and increases the probability of occurrence of wildfires in peatland areas. This study aims to modify the numerical formula of the drought factor (DFt) in the Keetch–Byram drought index (KBDI) based on tropical peatland wildfire conditions in Central Kalimantan during the El Niño phenomenon in 2015. Furthermore, it applies a revised peatland water table reference of 400 mm below the ground surface, based on previous research and the Government regulation on peatland ecosystem protection and management in Indonesia. These El Niño conditions caused a rain decline of approximately 35% in Block A, Ex-Mega Rice Project, Mantangai sub-District, Kapuas District, Central Kalimantan Province. The modified KBDI is compared with the Number of Fire Alerts (NFA) using NASA’s Active Fire Data in 2015. The analysis results demonstrate that the modified DFt under tropical peatland conditions leads to an increase in the drought index value, beginning on the driest days between July and November 2015. The value of the KBDI drought index increases from the high to the extreme index from September to November 2015, when as many as 61 extreme drought indices became indicators for peatland wildfire risk assessment. The extreme KBDI is directly proportional to the NFA recorded during 2015, and the highest number of fire alerts is observed for October 2015, with 1746 fire alerts within 31 days and extreme drought indices from 27 days. Hence, this modified formula is suitable for wildfire conditions on this peatland in Central Kalimantan. Overall, the modified DFt can be successfully applied to the El Niño phenomenon in 2015.

Antimonite Binding to Natural Organic Matter: Spectroscopic Evidence from a Mine Water Impacted Peatland

Peatlands and other wetlands are sinks for antimony (Sb), and solid natural organic matter (NOM) may play an important role in controlling Sb binding. However, direct evidence of Sb sequestration in natural peat samples is lacking. Here, we analyzed solid phase Sb, iron (Fe), and sulfur (S) as well as aqueous Sb speciation in three profiles up to a depth of 80 cm in a mine water impacted peatland in northern Finland. Linear combination fittings of extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra showed that Sb binding to Fe phases was of minor importance and observed only in the uppermost layers of the peatland. Instead, the dominant (to almost exclusive) sequestration mechanism was Sb(III) binding to oxygen-containing functional groups, and at greater depths, increasingly Sb(III) binding to thiol groups of NOM. Aqueous Sb speciation was dominated by antimonate, while antimonite concentrations were low, further supporting our findings of much higher reactivity of Sb(III) than Sb(V) toward peat surfaces. Insufficient residence time for efficient reduction of antimonate to antimonite currently hinders higher Sb removal in the studied peatland. Overall, our findings imply that Sb(III) binding to solid NOM acts as an important sequestration mechanism under reducing conditions in peatlands and other high-organic matter environments.

Pests and diseases on forest plant in burned peatlands in South Sumatra

At present most of the peatland in the OKI district, South Sumatra was damaged by forest fires. One way to restore the condition and function of peatlands as before is to rehabilitate by replanting suitable species on peatlands. One of the obstacles to the planting success on peatlands is the presence of pests and diseases. This study aims to determine pests and diseases of forest plants in several locations of burned peatlands in South Sumatra. The method used in this study was a survey method by direct observation of sample plants. Parameters observed were species of insect pests and pathogen, incidence and intensity of the attack. The results showed that several insect pests and diseases were found on burned peatland in Ogan Komering Ilir district, South Sumatra and identified as Cycnotrachelus sp., Valanga nigricornis, bagworm, Daphnis hypothous, Macrophoma sp., Pestalotiopsis sp., and Cephaleuros sp. The highest incidence of bagworm attacks was on Shorea balangeran and categorized as very heavy damage. The highest intensity was occurred on Dyera lowii that were attacked by Cephaleuros sp. and was categorized as moderately heavy damage. Even though the pest and disease attacks brought no economic losses, they must be watched closely by continuous monitoring.

A model of gross primary productivity based on satellite data suggests formerly afforested peatlands undergoing restoration regain full photosynthesis capacity after five to ten years.

Peatlands are an important terrestrial carbon store, but disturbance has resulted in the degradation of many peatland ecosystems and caused them to act as a net carbon source. Restoration work is being undertaken but monitoring the success of these schemes can be difficult and costly using traditional field-based methods. A landscape-scale alternative is to use satellite data to assess the condition of peatlands and to estimate gaseous carbon fluxes. In this study we used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products to model Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) over peatland sites at various stages of restoration. We found that the MOD17A2H GPP product overestimates GPP modelled from data collected by eddy covariance towers situated at two ex-forestry sites undergoing restoration towards blanket bog at the Forsinard Flows RSPB reserve, Scotland, UK (one full year of data), and a near-natural Atlantic blanket bog site in Glencar, Ireland (ten-year data series). We calibrated a Temperature and Greenness (TG) model for the Forsinard sites and found it to be more accurate than the MODIS GPP product at local scale. We also found that inclusion of a wetness factor using the Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI) improved inter-annual accuracy of the model. This TGWa (annual Temperature, Greenness and Wetness) model was then applied to six control sites comprising near-natural bog across the reserve, and to six sites on which restoration began between 1998 and 2006. GPP from 2005 to 2016 was estimated for each site using the model. The resulting modelled trends are positive at all six restored sites, increasing by approximately 5.5 g C/m2/yr every year since restoration began in the Forsinard Flows reserve. The results suggest that peatland sites undergoing restoration at Forsinard Flows reach the carbon assimilation potential of near-natural bog sites between 5 and 10 years after restoration was begun.

Production Potential Baby Corn (Zea Mays, L) From Some Variety in Bengkalis Riau

The land in Bengkalis is dominated by peat soil, which has low fertility, so to support the production of food crops, certain efforts are needed so that the land is efficient. Baby Corn is a type of fruit vegetable produced from corn plants harvested at a young age. Baby corn supply in Bengkalis comes from Pekanbaru, to reduce the amount of Baby Corn supply, the peat land must be empowered. Different varieties of corn will produce different production, even if planted in the same location. Testing of corn varieties on the condition of peatlands needs to be done to determine the potential of varieties to produce under these conditions. The purpose of this study was to obtain varieties that gave the best Baby Corn results in Pekanbaru. The treatment designs used five corn varieties, namely Bisi-1, P-12, C-7, CPI-1, and Aijuna. The environmental design used a completely randomized design. Data analysis used variance and continued with Duncan test at p 0.05. The results of the study showed that the P-12 variety was the highest yielding variety compared to the other four varieties. Adaptability of P-12 varieties is considered better than the other four varieties.

Estimation of Peatland Distribution Using Ratio Dual-pol from Sentinel-1A

In Indonesia, forests fires particularly in tropical peatland have are a major problem unresolved. These conditions need a strong peatland management to control and reduce forest fires. Monitoring peatland conditions are crucial for the actions. Additionally, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images have wide applications in remote sensing and mapping. It utilized area when meteorological conditions are not suitable for acquirement of optical data. In this research, we used a dual-pol (VV and VH) Sentinel-1A and estimated soil moisture of peat in Siak Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia using a modified Dubois Inversion. At the site, soil moisture at the four selected segments (namely, A1, A2, D1 and J1) are also measured in May 2017. Results show that the peatland areas have a ratio of polarimetric features (VH/VV) of 1.5 to 1.6.

Forest Fire Prevention through Agricultural Innovation in the Ex-Mega Rice Project Area in Central Kalimantan

In 1995, the Government of Indonesia initiated the Central Kalimantan Peatland Development Project – commonly known as the Mega Rice Project - to convert up to one million hectares of peat and lowland swamp to rice cultivation. In order to prepare the land for cultivation the peatland was drained through the construction of thousands of kilometers of canals and forest was cut. The effects were very damaging for the environment as the soils dried and the forests degraded. Agricultural developments were largely unsuccessful in the difficult peat land conditions. Agriculture is traditionally being practiced on the mineral soils along the river. A diversity of food crops, estate crops and livestock is grown and reared in the area. The limited suitability of the peat lands for agriculture often has to do with the acidity of the soils. Much land is only suitable for a limited number of crops. This leads to low agricultural production resulting in poverty among local communities. Fire has traditionally been used for land clearing and is still a common tool for agricultural preparations and land clearing for other purposes. Farmers traditionally monitor fires as they burn to avoid spreading. However, when peat soils are dry and forests are degraded they easily catch on fire. This paper aims to reduce the incidence of forest fires through the introduction of innovative techniques that limit the use of fire in land clearing. These techniques taken from the Climate Smart Agriculture approach will be able to support the local communities to diversify their farming methods and make use of the environmental circumstances in which they live to increase their agricultural production and improve their livelihoods. The result show that land clearing with limited use of fire have positive effects on agricultural production and can reduce the incidence of forest fires.

Development Paludiculture on Tropical Peatland for Productive and Sustainable Ecosystem in Riau

There are 2 million hectares of tropical peatland that are critical and must be restored by the Indonesian Government to reduce the greenhouse effect until 2020. The clear-cutting of peat swamp forests has changed from natural ecosystems into degraded ecosystems. When peat was dried for monoculture, it will stimulate forest fires. Peatland forest fire in 2015, caused Indonesia as one of the largest CO2 emitters in the world. The magnitude of the increase in CO2 emissions due to land use change caused peatland degradation. Paludiculture is an alternative technique for managing productive peatlands for food crops while maintaining ecological functions. Rewetting in peatland could reduce the emission of carbon, while food crops increase the quality and quantity of biomass. The plasticulture system can produce biomass on wet peatland conditions, maintain the sustainability of ecosystem services and can increase carbon accumulation. The principle in paludiculture is to restore the sustainability of the peat ecosystem while still paying attention to economic interests. Development of paludiculture of peat swamps land in Kepulauan Meranti Riau is very suitable to be implemented because could support their function of the hydrological buffer in natural peat swamp forest and source of food.

Functional diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities along a peatland–forest gradient

Peatlands are valuable wetland ecosystems that are widespread in boreal forest regions. In addition to harboring numerous uniquely adapted species, they play a major role in global climate regulation due to their ability to sequester large amounts of carbon in soil. Despite their significance, however, many aspects of peatland ecology remain largely unknown. Our study aimed to deepen the understanding of one such aspect, namely peatland ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities. The structure of belowground ECM fungal communities of Scots pine along a peatland – forest ecotone in the Lithuanian Čepkeliai peatland was examined by molecular identification of ectomycorrhizae collected at the study sites. Additionally, the ectomycorrhizae functionality, as expressed by exploration types, was assessed. The results revealed significant differences in the taxonomic composition of ECM fungal communities along the gradient. Moving from peatland to forest, a gradual increase in ECM fungal taxonomic richness was observed. As the soil water content increases, the medium and long distance exploration types of ectomycorrhizae became more prevalent and dominated on the peatland site. To our knowledge, this study is the first to document ECM fungal communities of Scots pine in peatland conditions and in European peatlands more broadly.

Plant functional types and temperature control carbon input via roots in peatland soils

Northern peatlands store large amounts of soil organic carbon (C) that can be very sensitive to ongoing global warming. Recently it has been shown that temperature-enhanced growth of vascular plants in these typically moss-dominated ecosystems may promote microbial peat decomposition by increased C input via root exudates. To what extent different plant functional types (PFT) and soil temperature interact in controlling root C input is still unclear. In this study we explored how root C input is related to the presence of ericoid shrubs (shrubs) and graminoid sedges (sedges) by means of a factorial plant clipping experiment (= PFT effect) in two peatlands located at different altitude (= temperature effect). By selective clipping of shrub and sedge shoots in mixed vegetation at two Alpine peatland sites we interrupted the above- to belowground translocation of C, thus temporarily inhibiting root C release. Subsequent measurements of soil respiration, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and stable isotope composition (13C) of DOC in pore water were used as proxies to estimate the above- to belowground transfer of C by different PFT. We found that soil respiration rates and DOC concentrations temporarily decreased within 24 h after clipping, with the decrease in soil respiration being most pronounced at the 1.4 °C warmer peatland after clipping shrubs. The transient drop in DOC concentration coincided with a shift towards a heavier C isotope signature, indicating that the decrease was associated with inhibition of a light C source that we attribute to root exudates. Together these results imply that shrubs translocated more C into the peat than sedges, particularly at higher temperature. We showed that plant functional type and temperature interact in controlling root C input under field conditions in peatlands. Our results provide a mechanistic evidence that shrubs may potentially promote the release of stored soil C through root-derived C input.

Relationship between electrical conductivity and water content of peat and gyttja: implications for electrical surveys of drained peatlands

ABSTRACTThe application of electrical resistivity tomography to peatlands supports conventional coring by providing data on the current condition of peatlands, including data on stratigraphy, peat properties and thickness of organic deposits. Data on the current condition of drained peatlands are particularly required to improve estimates of carbon storage as well as losses and emissions from agriculturally used peatlands. However, most of the studies focusing on electrical resistivity tomography surveys have been conducted on natural peatlands with higher groundwater levels. Peatlands drained for agriculture have not often been studied using geophysical techniques. Drained sites are characterized by low groundwater levels and high groundwater fluctuations during the year, which lead to varying levels of water saturation. To validate better electrical resistivity tomography surveys of drained peatlands, the aim of this laboratory study is to investigate the influence of varying water saturation levels on electrical conductivity (reciprocal of resistivity) for a variety of peat and gyttja types, as well as for different degrees of peat decomposition. Results show that different levels of water saturation strongly influence bulk electrical conductivity. Distinct differences in this relationship exist between peat and gyttja substrates and between different degrees of peat decomposition. Peat shows an exponential relationship for all degrees of decomposition, whereas gyttja, in particular organic‐rich gyttja, is characterized by a rather unimodal relationship. The slopes for the relationship between electrical conductivity and water content are steeper at high degrees of decomposition than for peat of low degrees of decomposition. These results have direct implications for field electrical resistivity tomography surveys. In drained peatlands that are strongly susceptible to drying, electrical resistivity tomography surveys have a high potential to monitor the actual field water content. In addition, at comparable water saturations, high or low degrees of decomposition can be inferred from electrical conductivity.

KEANEKARAGAMAN JENIS TUMBUHAN PAKU-PAKUAN (PTERIDOPHYTA) DAN KONDISI TEMPAT TUMBUHNYA PADA HUTAN RAWA GAMBUT SEKUNDER DAN LAHAN GAMBUT TERBUKA

The activities of the community around the peat swamp forest cause disruption of the ecosystem from the sustainability of the forest area's resources. Land clearing and peatland fires also affect the presence of ferns. The new environmental conditions due to changes in land cover cause ferns to be affected by these changes. Kuala Dua Village Kubu Raya Regency has secondary peat swamp forest and open peat land due to fires 3-4 years earlier so it is overgrown with a variety of new types of flora, one of which is a type of fern. The objective of the study is to describe species diversity of ferns and their site conditions in secondary peat swamp forests and open peatlands of Kuala Dua Village, Kubu Raya District. This research was conducted with survey method using multiple plot samples. The plots determination was done by purposive sampling which was taken place on the site where there were many species of ferns land. Three plots were on each land covered condition with a plot size of 5 m x 5 m that divided into 25 of a 1 m x 1 m sub plots. The results show that 5 species of ferns found in peat swamp forest and 4 species of ferns were found on open peatlands. The species that has the highest INP value in the forest was Asplenium belangeri and the species that has the INP value in open peatland was Nephrolefis falcata. Dominant Index, Spesies Diversity Index and Spesies Abudance Index were 0,12 and 0,18; 0,30 and 0,36; 0,51 and 0,52 on the forest and open peatland respectively. The Similarity Index value (IS) of ferns in secondary peat swamp forest and open peatland is 44%. The study shows dissimility of species fern in peat swamp forests and open peatlands.Keywords: Open peatland, Pteridophyta, secondary peat swamp forest

The potential for modelling peatland habitat condition in Scotland using long-term MODIS data

Globally, peatlands provide an important sink of carbon in their near natural state but potentially act as a source of gaseous and dissolved carbon emission if not in good condition. There is a pressing need to remotely identify peatland sites requiring improvement and to monitor progress following restoration. A medium resolution model was developed based on a training dataset of peatland habitat condition and environmental covariates, such as morphological features, against information derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), covering Scotland (UK). The initial, unrestricted, model provided the probability of a site being in favourable condition. Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves for restricted training data, limited to those located on a peat soil map, resulted in an accuracy of 0.915. The kappa statistic was 0.8151, suggesting good model fit. The derived map of predicted peatland condition at the suggested 0.56 threshold was corroborated by data from other sources, including known restoration sites, areas under known non-peatland land cover and previous vegetation survey data mapped onto inferred condition categories. The resulting locations of the areas of peatland modelled to be in favourable ecological condition were largely confined to the North and West of the country, which not only coincides with prior land use intensity but with published predictions of future retraction of the bioclimatic space for peatlands. The model is limited by a lack of spatially appropriate ground observations, and a lack of verification of peat depth at training site locations, hence future efforts to remotely assess peatland condition will require more appropriate ground-based monitoring. If appropriate ground-based observations could be collected, using remote sensing could be considered a cost-efficient means to provide data on changes in peatland habitat condition.

To What Degree Can the Specifics of Occurrence of Glacial Relic Betula humilis Schrank Be an Indicator of Habitat Conditions of Moderate Climate Peatlands?

Anthropogenic transformations of habitat conditions in moderate climate peatlands frequently cause a decrease in the number of sites of occurrence and the size of the population of many valuable plant species, including the boreal relic Betula humilis. The objective of this paper was an attempt to relate the specifics of the occurrence of the glacial relic Betula humilis in the peatlands of Central-Eastern Poland, which developed under moderate climate conditions, to the conditions of the natural environment identified through research into the physical and chemical parameters of the groundwater, as well as botanical research into its habitat. The study results confirm that shrub birch has a broad range of ecological tolerance to the majority of the studied factors and can therefore be an indicator of habitat transformation. Important environmental factors affecting its abundance are water relations and the contribution of calcium hydroxide and phosphorus fractions. A condition favouring the proper functioning of individuals of the studied species is TP values lower than other obtained values, in the following range: 0.08–0.32; P-PO4: 0.1; TN: 2.2–21.2; N-NH4: 0.1–0.46; DOC: 24.6–55.9 (mg·dm−3), as well as higher than average pH values, in the following range: 5.34–5.95; Ca: 5.67–28.1; Mg: 0.56–2.41 (mg·dm−3) and EC: 72.1–142.3 (µS·cm−1).

Long-Term Peatland Condition Assessment via Surface Motion Monitoring Using the ISBAS DInSAR Technique over the Flow Country, Scotland

Satellite Earth Observation (EO) is often used as a cost-effective method to report on the condition of remote and inaccessible peatland areas. Current EO techniques are primarily limited to reporting on the vegetation classes and properties of the immediate peat surface using optical data, which can be used to infer peatland condition. Another useful indicator of peatland condition is that of surface motion, which has the potential to report on mass accumulation and loss of peat. Interferometic SAR (InSAR) techniques can provide this using data from space. However, the most common InSAR techniques for information extraction, such as Persistent Scatterers’ Interferometry (PSI), have seen limited application over peat as they are primarily tuned to work in areas of high coherence (i.e., on hard, non-vegetated surfaces only). A new InSAR technique, called the Intermittent Small BAseline Subset (ISBAS) method, has been recently developed to provide measurements over vegetated areas from SAR data acquired by satellite sensors. This paper examines the feasibility of the ISBAS technique for monitoring long-term surface motion over peatland areas of the Flow Country, in the northeast of Scotland. In particular, the surface motions estimated are compared with ground data over a small forested area (namely the Bad a Cheo forest Reserve). Two sets of satellite SAR data are used: ERS C-band images, covering the period 1992–2000, and Sentinel-1 C-band images, covering the period 2015–2016. We show that the ISBAS measurements are able to identify surface motion over peatland areas, where subsidence is a consequence of known land cover/land use. In particular, the ISBAS products agree with the trend of surface motion, but there are uncertainties with their magnitude and direction (vertical). It is concluded that there is a potential for the ISBAS method to be able to report on trends in subsidence and uplift over peatland areas, and this paper suggests avenues for further investigation, but this requires a well-resourced validation campaign.

Predator-prey mass ratio drives microbial activity under dry conditions in Sphagnum peatlands.

Mid‐ to high‐latitude peatlands are a major terrestrial carbon stock but become carbon sources during droughts, which are increasingly frequent as a result of climate warming. A critical question within this context is the sensitivity to drought of peatland microbial food webs. Microbiota drive key ecological and biogeochemical processes, but their response to drought is likely to impact these processes. Peatland food webs have, however, been little studied, especially the response of microbial predators. We studied the response of microbial predators (testate amoebae, ciliates, rotifers, and nematodes) living in Sphagnum moss carpet to droughts, and their influence on lower trophic levels and on related microbial enzyme activity. We assessed the impact of reduced water availability on microbial predators in two peatlands using experimental (Linje mire, Poland) and natural (Forbonnet mire, France) water level gradients, reflecting a sudden change in moisture regime (Linje), and a typically drier environment (Forbonnet). The sensitivity of different microbial groups to drought was size dependent; large sized microbiota such as testate amoebae declined most under dry conditions (−41% in Forbonnet and −80% in Linje). These shifts caused a decrease in the predator–prey mass ratio (PPMR). We related microbial enzymatic activity to PPMR; we found that a decrease in PPMR can have divergent effects on microbial enzymatic activity. In a community adapted to drier conditions, decreasing PPMR stimulated microbial enzyme activity, while in extreme drought experiment, it reduced microbial activity. These results suggest that microbial enzymatic activity resulting from food web structure is optimal only within a certain range of PPMR, and that different trophic mechanisms are involved in the response of peatlands to droughts. Our findings confirm the importance of large microbial consumers living at the surface of peatlands on the functioning of peatlands, and illustrate their value as early warning indicators of change.

Evaluating the potential of testate amoebae as indicators of hydrological conditions in boreal forested peatlands

Testate amoebae are common proxies of past hydrological conditions in peatlands and are increasingly used as indicators of ecosystems ecological integrity. The ecology of these microorganisms is relatively well documented in non-forested ombrotrophic peatlands but there is a lack of data from forested peatlands, which are important ecosystems in boreal regions. This study provides the first testate amoebae modern training set (n = 72) from forested peatlands of the James Bay lowlands, eastern Canada. The relationships between testate amoeba communities and environmental variables (pH, water table depth, canopy openness, mineral particles concentration) were investigated using canonical correspondence analyses. Our data have shown that testate amoebae are sensitive environmental indicators in forested peatlands and can be used to reconstruct past hydrological conditions for these environments. A transfer function for water table depth (WTD) reconstructions was developed using weighted averaging models and was tested on a fossil testate amoebae record. In comparing forested and non-forested peatlands datasets we have shown that testate amoebae occupy similar ecological niches with respect to surface wetness in both ecosystems, but that their WTD optima is much higher (drier) in forested peatlands. The results show that the diversity and composition of testate amoeba assemblages do not vary significantly at the microform scale. This study provides new knowledge on testate amoebae ecology in forested peatlands that will improve further transfer function development in peatland ecosystems. This will allow a better evaluation of the responses of boreal forested peatlands to climate change, ecological disturbances and human activities.

Sistem Informasi Geografis Dalam Pemetaan Lahan Gambut di Kabupaten Musi Banyuasin

Kelestarian alam adalah isu yang sangat sentral pada masa ini, hal ini di sebabkan oleh semakin banyaknya kerusakan yang alam yang terjadi dikarenakan ketidakperdulian manusia akan pentingya menjaga agar alam tetap menjadi tempat yang bersahabat untuk kehidupan kita. Salah satu penopang kelestarian alam adalah adanya kelestarian lahan gambut yang mampu menyimpan gas karbon yang berfungsi untuk menahan laju paningkatan suhu bumi. Salah satu upaya yang dilakukan untuk menjaga kelestarian lahan gambut adalah tersedianya data dan informasi tentang kondisi lahan gambut yang komprehensif dan terbaru yang bisa diakses oleh piha yang berkepentngan dengan kondisi lahan gambut. Untuk itulah dibutuhkan suatu Sistem Informasi Geografis yang di desain dan dibangun dengan menggunakan pendekatan Classic Life Cycle Model serta didukung dengan Perangakt lunak ArcGIS, UML Model dan Bahasa pemrograman PHP. Sistem informasi Geografis ini memberikan informasi pemetaan lahan gambut seperti: lokasi lahan gambut, kategori lahan gambut,lahan gambut yng sudah di kelolah dan belum dikelola.

Testate amoebae community analysis as a tool to assess biological impacts of peatland use

As most ecosystems, peatlands have been heavily exploited for different human purposes. For example, in Finland the majority is under forestry, agriculture or peat mining use. Peatlands play an important role in carbon storage, water cycle, and are a unique habitat for rare organisms. Such properties highlight their environmental importance and the need for their restoration. To monitor the success of peatland restoration sensitive indicators are needed. Here we test whether testate amoebae can be used as a reliable bioindicator for assessing peatland condition. To qualify as reliable indicators, responses in testate amoebae community structure to ecological changes must be stronger than random spatial and temporal variation. In this study, we simultaneously assessed differences between the effects of seasonality, intermediate scale spatial variation and land uses on living testate amoebae assemblages in natural, forested and restored peatlands. We expected the effects of seasonality on testate amoebae communities to be less pronounced than those of land use and within site variation. On average, natural sites harboured the highest richness and density, while the lowest numbers were found at forestry sites. Despite small changes observed in taxa dominance and differences in TA community structure between seasons and years at some sites, spatial heterogeneity, temperature, pH, nor water table depth seemed to significantly affect testate amoebae communities. Instead, observed differences were related to type of land use, which explained 75% of the community variation. Our results showed that testate amoebae community monitoring is a useful tool to evaluate impacts of human land use on boreal peatlands.