Peatlands and Wetlands

Peatlands are oxidizing, subsiding, releasing carbon dioxide, burning, and emitting huge plumes of smoke.

With data from our unique field stations in Borneo, we have developed a comprehensive theory to explain the coupled ecological and hydrologic processes that control the accumulation and loss of peat, and the accompanying carbon fluxes, from tropical peatlands. This quantitative framework provides a unique tool for accurately predicting and managing carbon fluxes and stores.

Ombrotrophic bogs are shaped in gently curved domes of peat, tens of kilometers across, that store hundreds of gigatons of organic carbon. These peat domes exist because of a positive feedback between water table rise and accumulation of organic material from tropical rain forests over millennia. Peat prevents the drainage of water and the saturation by water prevents oxidation and decomposition of peat. But now, newly constructed networks of drainage canals have broken the feedback, exposing peat to fire and microbial oxidation that and releases huge fluxes of CO2 back to the atmosphere.

Now more than ever, we need to understand how peatlands are formed, how they can be maintained, and how they thrive. Tropical peatlands contain enormous stores of carbon. Hydrologic management of these peatlands offers great opportunities to reduce CO2 fluxes to the atmosphere.