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Impact of deforestation on solid and dissolved organic matter characteristics of tropical peat forests: implications for carbon release

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Abstract

This study compares the organic chemistry of peat beneath one of last remaining pristine tropical peat forests in Southeast Asia with a neighbouring peat dome that has been deforested, but not intentionally drained, in the Belait district of Brunei Darussalam, Borneo. We characterized the solid and dissolved organic matter collected from the two domes, through a combination of methods including elemental analysis, phenolic content and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) investigation of solid peat, as well as optical characterisation (absorbance, fluorescence) of dissolved organic matter (DOM). The peat had a high content of lignin, consistent with its origin from the Shorea albida trees on the domes. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in the pore water was significantly greater in the deforested site (79.9 ± 5.5 mg l−1) than the pristine site (62.2 ± 2.2 mg l−1). The dissolved organic matter was richer in nitrogen and phenolics in the deforested site. The optical properties (Fluorescence Index) indicated a modification of DOM cycling in the deforested site (enhanced decomposition of the peat and fresh litter). Comparison of the solid peat composition between the two sites also suggests effects of deforestation: sulphur, nitrogen and phenolic contents were higher in the deforested site. Taken together, these observations are consistent with peat enhanced decomposition in the deforested site, even without engineered drainage.

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Acknowledgments

This project is funded by the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) through the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Center for Environmental Sensing and Monitoring (CENSAM). Laure Gandois benefited from a SMART post doctoral fellowship. The authors warmly thank Richard Corlett for facilitating access to analytical facilities at NUS, Amy Chua, Kai Fu Ming, Shaliha Suut and Jang Ak.Eri from the Forestry Department in Brunei for their great help during field work, as well as Scott Fendorf, Guangchao Li and Doug Turner of the EM-I analytical center at Stanford University, and the staff of the Department of Chemistry at NUS for great help in samples analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore, 117543, Singapore

    L. Gandois, A. R. Cobb & C. F. Harvey

  2. Chemistry Programme, Universiti of Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, BE1410, Brunei Darussalam

    I. Chieng Hei & L. B. L. Lim

  3. Biology Programme, Universiti of Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, BE1410, Brunei Darussalam

    K. Abu Salim

  4. Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 01239, USA

    C. F. Harvey

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  1. L. Gandois
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Correspondence to L. Gandois.

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Gandois, L., Cobb, A.R., Hei, I.C. et al. Impact of deforestation on solid and dissolved organic matter characteristics of tropical peat forests: implications for carbon release. Biogeochemistry 114, 183–199 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-012-9799-8

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