wise use of mires and peatlands - Peatland Ecology Research Group

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78 VALUES AND FUCTIONS OF MIRES AND PEATLANDSnormal phenomena in peatlands. Today fireis most frequently the result of humanactivities. Peatland fires may lead to theignition of the peat layers, especially afterdrainage. Such fires are difficult to extinguishand may last for many months despiteextensive rains. The depth and extent of suchfires depend on the oxygen availability, themoisture content, and the presence of cracksin the peat.Emissions from biomass and peatlandburning represent a large perturbation ofglobal atmospheric chemistry. In the 1982-3drought and fire in East Kalimantan, the areaaffected by fire included 5500 km 2 of peatswampforest. In 1997 and 1998 land clearanceactivities in Indonesia combined with anextended dry season created several monthsof forest and peatland fires. Two of the mostintensive sources of smoke and particulatematter were fires on the peatlands ofKalimantan and Sumatra. Both the surfacevegetation and the underlying peat wereignited. In Kalimantan some 7500 km 2 of peatswampforest was destroyed with a loss ofsurface peat of between 0.2 and 1.5 metres.Total emissions of carbon as a result of thefires are estimated to be equal to 10% of theglobal annual emissions from fossil fuelconsumption.Peatland inundation and re-wetting:Peatlands are inundated for rice cultivation,water reservoirs (especially for hydroelectricity),and mire restoration. Higher watertable depths generally lower the carbonmineralisation rate. Nevertheless inundationand re-wetting do not necessarily result inlower emission rates.Rice paddies are among the most importantmethane emitters in the world. Inundation ofpeatlands to create water reservoirs leads tosignificant emissions of both carbon dioxideand methane. Emissions from Canadianwetlands due to flooding are estimated torepresent 5% of Canada’s anthropogenicemissions.The re-wetting of degraded peatlands wouldalso be expected to lead to a decrease incarbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions.In practice, however, re-wetting of fengrasslands often leads to increased methaneemissions, while carbon dioxide emissionsmay remain continuously high. This couldbe caused by the rapid decomposition ofyoung plant material and is probably atransient phenomenon. Water levelfluctuations on such plots may cause a majorincrease in nitrous oxide emissions.Radiative forcing(in 10 12 g CO 2equivalents)Land use area in 1000 ha 100 year horizon 500 year horizonUndisturbed peatlands 4000 + 8.40 ± 0.15 + 0.54 ± 0.15Forest drained peatlands 5700 - 5.28 ± 5.5 - 7.61 ± 5.5Agricultural peatlands 250 + 6.63 ± 2.57 + 6.12 ± 2.45Peat extraction and stockpiles 63 + 0.71 ± n.d + 0.69 ± n.dPeat combustion 77.5 ± 7.3 PJ y -1 + 8.51 ± 0.75 + 8.32 ± 0.71Totals + 18.97 ± 8.97 + 8.06 ± 8.81Table 3/16: Summary of radiative forcing of Finnish peatlands under different land-useforms using different time horizons.
VALUES AND FUCTIONS OF MIRES AND PEATLANDS79Re-wetting of drained alder forests leads toincreased emissions of methane, but todecreasing nitrous oxide emissions.Climate change: The distribution of miresand mire types over the globe clearly reflectstheir dependence on climate. As mires areconcentrated in humid or cool regions, achanging climate can be expected to seriouslyaffect their carbon balance and radiativeforcing.Most climate models suggest that thenorthern regions, which contain most of theworld’s peatlands, will become significantlywarmer in the 21 st century - continental areas(though this is less certain) becoming drierand oceanic areas becoming wetter. Sinceboth net primary production anddecomposition are closely related to moistureand temperature, significant alterations in thecarbon dynamics of peatlands may result.Some researchers stress the importance ofalterations in the water table level, which mightincrease carbon accumulation in northernpeatlands but might create a greater sourceof carbon dioxide in the more southernpeatlands. Others stress the importance of arise in temperatures and suggest that a netloss of carbon will take place in northern fensbut a net gain in northern bogs.The behaviour of permafrost peatlands willalso be important, as both decomposition andnet primary production are acceleratedfollowing permafrost melt. In general,methane emissions from peatland ecosystemswill decrease with drying. Increasedtemperatures and thaw depth in wet tundraecosystems could, however, also increasemethane fluxes, especially when, as climatemodels indicate, precipitation at northernlatitudes increases.It may be concluded that there are still toomany uncertainties in the magnitude and thedirection of potential changes to arrive at afinal conclusion on the reaction of mires andpeatlands to global warming.Conclusion: The atmosphere and the ocean,and the interactions they have with livingthings constitute a complex dynamic systemwith many interconnections and feedbacks.This complexity explains the uncertainty andcontroversy about greenhouse gases andclimate change 184 . Most scientists believethat small changes in the “inputs” to theclimate system will result in small changes tothe resulting climate and that climate changewill take place gradually over a period of manydecades. If change is gradual, the overalleconomic impact on wealthy countries willprobably be modest. Because of thefeedbacks, the response of the climate to anincrease in greenhouse gases could, however,also be “nonlinear” meaning that a smallchange in an input might produce a majorchange in climate, such as might be broughtabout by a sudden change in the generalpattern of ocean circulation. If that happens,the economic costs to wealthy countriescould be very large, as much new investmentmight be needed in a very short period oftime.Whether it is fast or slow, climate change islikely to have greater economic impacts onpoor countries than on rich countries,because poor countries have less capacityto adapt to changes and because traditionallife styles depend more directly on a specificclimate. In the long run, if sea levelscontinued to rise, even developed countriesmight begin to experience serious costs, asmany of the world’s largest cities are in lowlyingcoastal locations.Because of this small but realistic risk of largeand negative effects of climate change, aprecautionary policy 185 should take intoaccount the climate regulatory function ofmires and peatlands, especially their role asmajor long-term stores of carbon.
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WISE USEOF MIRES AND PEATLANDS -BAC
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IMCG/IPS STATEMENT3CONTENTSGuide to
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IMCG/IPS STATEMENT5References .....
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IMCG/IPS STATEMENT7Peatlands are na
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IMCG/IPS STATEMENT9use of the peatl
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GUIDE TO THE USE OF THE DOCUMENT11a
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GUIDE TO THE USE OF THE DOCUMENT13A
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INTRODUCTION19resources. These help
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INTRODUCTION211998 Peatlands Under
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INTRODUCTION23●●●●●●●
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MIRES AND PEATLANDS252.2 PEAT FORMA
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE129(2) Intern
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE131National p
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE133(8) Educat
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE135the manage
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE137Does the e
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE139well-being
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE141This summa
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE143knowledge
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE145Surwold Me
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE147Peatland-l
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE149Marine tra
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE151Bog prepar
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE153Peat-fired
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE155Cattle on
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE157Pristine p
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE159Fire on a
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FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE16171See §§
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS163Ba
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS165De
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS167Fo
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS169In
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS171No
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS173Pi
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS175So
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GLOSSARY OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS177Vo
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS179Lindsay, Richard
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS181International Pe
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APPENDICES183APPENDICES
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APPENDIX I185Original 2002 2002Coun
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APPENDIX I187Philippines 300,000 10
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APPENDIX I189Country Total area Pea
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APPENDIX I191Country Total area Pea
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APPENDIX I193The other important as
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APPENDIX 2195Region Methane emissio
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APPENDIX 2197A2.3 THE ROLE OF PEATL
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APPENDIX 21991200010000FensBogskg C
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APPENDIX 2201Total C in 10 9 gUndis
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APPENDIX 2203source of carbon dioxi
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APPENDIX 4205APPENDIX 4PATTERNS OF
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APPENDIX 4207license from the relev
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APPENDIX 52093. Quality of decision
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APPENDIX 6211APPENDIX 6CODE OF COND
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APPENDIX 7213APPENDIX 7INTERNATIONA
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APPENDICES2151Based on information
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REFERENCES217REFERENCESAardema, M.,
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REFERENCES219Bedford, B.L., 1999, C
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REFERENCES221morning. Hunting and n
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REFERENCES223Application of static
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REFERENCES225Amsterdam, pp. 35-65.F
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REFERENCES227beautiful). Proceeding
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REFERENCES229595 p.IPCC, 1995, Clim
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REFERENCES231der Sitten (Ed. by Kra
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REFERENCES233are you harvested. Rev
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REFERENCES235Marschner, H., 1995, M
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REFERENCES237wet relationship. Tran
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REFERENCES239Växtsociologiska Säl
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REFERENCES241Peatland, Sarawak, Mal
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REFERENCES243Schäfer, A., and Dege
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REFERENCES245Sirin, A.A., Minaeva T
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REFERENCES247Princeton University P
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REFERENCES249Kluwer Academic Publis
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REFERENCES251Event, p. 222.Whinam,
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INDEX253INDEXAAapa mire 30, 42, 81,
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INDEX255Arrhenius Svante 99Art/arti
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INDEX257Black peat 41, 54, 56, 58,
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INDEX259Carex canescens 27Carex ces
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INDEX261Cloud condensation nuclei 7
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INDEX263Cross purposes 103Cross-cou
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INDEX265Dutch Foundation for the Co
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INDEX267Eurasia 60, 75, 196Europe 3
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INDEX269Freedom from arbitrary arre
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INDEX271Growing media 51-53, 136, 1
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INDEX273Hydrologic characteristics
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INDEX275ISO 14001 136Isotope 169Iso
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INDEX277Lathyrus palustris 27Latk F
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INDEX279Management Guidelines 19, 2
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REFERENCES281Modifiers 120, 127-128
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REFERENCES283New Caledonia 191New Z
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REFERENCES285PPacific North West 71
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REFERENCES287Photochemically active
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REFERENCES289Product diversificatio
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REFERENCES291Research 100Research n
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REFERENCES293Scotland 58, 59, 98Sco
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REFERENCES295Song of the Peatbog So
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REFERENCES297Suspended solids 56, 8
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REFERENCES299Triglochin palustre 27
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REFERENCES301Verlandungsmoore 26Ver
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REFERENCES303Wool 57Works of art 83
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