In the line of fire: The peatlands of Southeast Asia

Share this
Peatlands are a significantcomponent of the global carbon (C) cycle, yet despite their role as a long-term C sink throughout the Holocene, they are increasingly vulnerable to destabilization. Nowhere is this shift from sink to source happening more rapidly than in Southeast Asia, and nowhere else are the combined pressures of land-use change and fire on peatland ecosystem C dynamics more evident nor the consequences more apparent. This review focuses on the peatlands of this region, tracing the link between deforestation and drainage and accelerating C emissions arising from peat mineralization and fire. It focuses on the implications of the recent increase in fire occurrence for air quality, human health, ecosystem resilience and the global C cycle. The scale and controls on peat-driven C emissions are addressed, noting that although fires cause large, temporary peaks in C flux to the atmosphere, year-round emissions frompeat mineralization are of a similarmagnitude. The reviewconcludes by advocating land management options to reduce future fire risk as part of wider peatland management strategies, while also proposing that this region’s peat fire dynamic could become increasingly relevant to northern peatlands in a warming world. © 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. View source
Author(s)

Page S. E., Hooijer A.,

Year

2016

Secondary Title

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Publisher

Royal Society of London

Volume

371

Number

1696

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0176

Language

Keyword(s)

Carbon, Peat fire, Peat mineralization, Peat swamp forest, Southeast Asia, Tropical peatland, air quality, biogeochemistry, carbon emission, carbon flux, carbon sink, deforestation, ecosystem resilience, fire, global change, land management, land use change, peatland, swamp forest, tropical region, air pollutant, analysis, environmental health, environmental protection, human, wetland, Air Pollutants, Asia, Southeastern, Conservation of Natural Resources, Fires, Humans, Wetlands

Classification
Form: Journal Article
Geographical Area: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

Supporter & Funder