From carbon sink to carbon source
Extensive peat oxidation in insular Southeast Asia since 1990
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15548460 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jukka Miettinen (0000-0001-8510-1553, National University of Singapore, corresponding author), A Hooijer (0000-0001-7303-2204, Deltares), Ronald Vernimmen (0000-0002-9899-3826, Deltares), Soo Chin Liew (0000-0001-8342-4682, National University of Singapore), Susan Page (0000-0002-3392-9241, University of Leicester) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 024014-024014 |
| Publication date | 2017-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/aa5b6f |
| OpenAlex | W2586397056 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 23 |
| References cited | 27 |
Tropical peatlands of the western part of insular Southeast Asia have experienced extensive land cover changes since 1990. Typically involving drainage, these land cover changes have resulted in increased peat oxidation in the upper peat profile. In this paper we provide current (2015) and cumulative carbon emissions estimates since 1990 from peat oxidation in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo, utilizing newly published peatland land cover information and the recently agreed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) peat oxidation emission values for tropical peatland areas. Our results highlight the change of one of the Earth's most efficient long-term carbon sinks to a short-term emission source, with cumulative carbon emissions since 1990 estimated to have been in the order of 2.5 Gt C. Current (2015) levels of emissions are estimated at around 146 Mt C yr-1, with a range of 132-159 Mt C yr-1 depending on the selection of emissions factors for different land cover types. 44% (or 64 Mt C yr-1) of the emissions come from industrial plantations (mainly oil palm and Acacia pulpwood), followed by 34% (49 Mt C yr-1) of emissions from small-holder areas. Thus, altogether 78% of current peat oxidation emissions come from managed land cover types. Although based on the latest information, these estimates may still include considerable, yet currently unquantifiable, uncertainties (e.g. due to uncertainties in the extent of peatlands and drainage networks) which need to be focused on in future research. In comparison, fire induced carbon dioxide emissions over the past ten years for the entire equatorial Southeast Asia region have been estimated to average 122 Mt C yr-1 (www.globalfiredata.org/-index.html). The results emphasise that whilst reducing emissions from peat fires is important, urgent efforts are also needed to mitigate the constantly high level of emissions arising from peat drainage, regardless of fire occurrence
Carbon dioxide · Carbon sequestration · Carbon sink · Climate change · Geography · Greenhouse gas · Hydrology (agriculture · Land cover · Land use · Peat · Physical geography · Sink (geography · Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems · Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography
Low, but gradually growing deforestation and carbon emissions from the Cuvette Centrale peatlands, 2001–2021
CO 2 fertilization effect may balance climate change impacts on oil palm cultivation
Policy design for biodiversity
Peeling back the label—exploring sustainable palm oil ecolabelling and consumption in the United Kingdom
Carbon storage capacity of tropical peatlands in natural and artificial drainage networks
Aboveground biomass and carbon dynamics over 13 years at an Indonesian tropical peat dome
Reflections on integrated research from community engagement in peatland restoration
Why estimates of the peat burned in fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan are unreliable and why it matters
Understanding peat swamp forest transitions
Wading through the Luyon-luyon
Climate Change Mitigation Through Sustainable Degraded Peatlands Management in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Towards biocultural approaches to peatland conservation
Climate change mitigation on tropical peatlands
Multi-level actor-network
Human-induced changes in Indonesian peatlands increase drought severity
Climate change-induced peatland drying in Southeast Asia
Improving strategies for sustainability of short-term agricultural utilization on degraded peatlands in Central Kalimantan
Reducing CO2 emissions and supporting food security in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, with improved peatland management
An ecosystem-based adaptation and adaptive governance framework for addressing governance challenges in tropical peatland restoration
The vulnerability of tropical peatlands to oil and gas exploration and extraction
Tropical peatlands in the Anthropocene
Tropical peatlands in the anthropocene
The future of Southeast Asia's tropical peatlands
Current and future CO 2 emissions from drained peatlands in Southeast Asia
Global and regional importance of the tropical peatland carbon pool
Global fire emissions and the contribution of deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural, and peat fires (1997–2009)
The amount of carbon released from peat and forest fires in Indonesia during 1997
Heterotrophic respiration in drained tropical peat is greatly affected by temperature—a passive ecosystem cooling experiment
Modeling relationships between water table depth and peat soil carbon loss in Southeast Asian plantations
| Unique citing works | 23 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,88 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 23 |