Tropical peatland In Southeast Asia holds the world’s fourth largest peat based organic carbon reservoir covering up to an estimated 27 million hectares. These reservoirs however are being given up for commercial palm oil farming and an estimated 6% of the annual Carbon dioxide released into the air can be traced back to peatland destruction from agriculture. Researchers in 2015 studied the soil microbe community in a previously disrupted peatland to study the ability of scientists to restore damaged lands. The bacterial community showed 10% similarity to the undisturbed forests, the fungal community showed 61% difference, and the archaeal community showed 66% difference. After 3.5 years no major microbial group studied had a community that was considered fully restored (similar to pre-destruction diversity) suggesting peatland restoration efforts may take decades or longer.
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| From (Nurulita et al 2016). This figure shows the Southeast Asian (Indonesian) peatlands studied. |
Original article: Nurulita Y, Adetutu EM, Gunawan H, Zul D, Ball AS (2016). Restoration of tropical peat soils: The application of soil microbiology for monitoring the success of the restoration process. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 216: 293-303.
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