Eddy covariance measurement of methane flux above a primary tropical Peat swamp in Sarawak, Malaysia

Authors:
Wong Guan Xhuan, Ryuichi Hirata, Takashi Hirano, Edward B. Aeries, Kevin K. Musin, Joseph W. Waili, Frankie Kiew and Lulie Melling

Book:
Proceedings of the 15th International Peat Congress

Venue:
Kuching

Keywords:
diurnal-variation, eddy-covariance-technique, groundwater-level, open-path-ch4-analyser, peatland

Documentfile:
ipc16p61-65a288wonghirata.etal_.pdf

Summary:

Tropical peat swamp forest is one of the world‘s most important terrestrial ecosystems, in which both swamp forest and soil have evolved together over millennia, because it has accumulated huge amount of carbon as peat. In recent years, considerable attention has been devoted to understand the role of this ecosystem in amplifying global warming. Owing to a significant amount of carbon stock, waterlogged, and associated anaerobic conditions, tropical peatlands may represent a potential source of methane (CH4). However, there are a few studies on CH4 flux based on periodic measurement, and no study on continuous CH4 flux measurement in tropical peat swamp forest. Thus,we started CH4 flux monitoring in 2011 above a primary tropical peat swamp forest in Sarawak, Malaysia, using the eddy covariance technique. Using field data from January 2014 to July 2015, ecosystem-scale CH4 exchange was assessed. The tropical peat swamp forest showed net emissions of CH4 with a mean value of 18.1 n mol m-2 s-1 for…