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Putting the carbon back into peat: Palaeoecological contribution to the enhancement of natural carbon sequestration of Indonesian peatlands

Subject Area Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
Physical Geography
Term from 2018 to 2022
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 404867302
 
Final Report Year 2022

Final Report Abstract

Tropical wetlands, including peatlands, are one of the most efficient natural ecosystems to store carbon. But they can also become massive emitters of carbon if they are damaged, for instance by land use change, degradation or fire, that can lead to faster climate warming. The understanding what drive the peatland ecosystem change and how the ecosystems respond to them is therefore crucial, yet is still lacking. This is mainly because ecosystem responses are often slow processes lasting for decades or even centuries and therefore are challenging to understand by experiments or observations. Palaeoecology or long-term ecology could, in fact, provide such long-term information. In Indonesia, peatlands are mainly distributed on the coast of Sumatra and Borneo. The dynamics of these ecosystems (e.g. vegetation, chemistry, carbon sequestration capacity) are driven by changes in sea level and climate, although their responses to changes occur are sometimes site-specific. Anthropogenic activities are also an important factor driving changes on these ecosystems, especially in the last two centuries. In the distant past, however, changes to peatland ecosystems can be attributed almost exclusively to natural factors. Similar patterns are also observed in highland peatlands in SE Asia and other peatlands in the tropics globally. Considering the strong connectivity between ecosystems, peatland managements also need to consider, to some extent, intervention to other connected ecosystems. Palaeoecological information of peatland ecosystems could assist and help their present-day management in various ways from readjusting the goals and targets, refining the design, providing blue print for sustainably integrating socioeconomic interests, informing the policy making process and even help overcoming public skepticisms. This project shows the values of palaeoecological information in tropical peatland research. Although, it also demonstrates that further development for tools for palaeoecological research in tropical peatlands is needed. It is also shown the importance in integrating information from other disciplines will strengthen the merit of palaeoecological information. Still relatively lack of gender balance in tropical peatland research also underlines the need to encourage and support young female scientists who are interested in this research field. A crucial, yet surprising outcome of this project is how the interaction between rising sea levels and ENSO may contribute to massive forest fires even in relatively fire-proof ecosystems (pristine peatlands). This project’s unexpected finding adds an as yet unknown threat to the survival of these valuable ecosystems and reveals the potential hidden impact of sea level rise that can exacerbate climate warming. The outcomes of this projects are featured in the media and news sites.

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