Dynamics of carbon of peat soils under several land uses in Kampar Peninsula, Riau Province, Indonesia

Abstract

One of the main sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions is CO2 from peat decomposition. Land management, especially drainage, can trigger decomposition, causing carbon content depletion in peat soils. In this study, carbon dynamic was evaluated under various land uses of the peatland in Kampar Peninsula, Riau, Indonesia. Secondary data from 2016, supplemented by primary data until 2018 have been analysed to obtain multi-temporal data. The dynamic of land use types was analysed by interpreting multi-temporal imagery and ground check in the field. Results show that from 2016 to 2018, there was a soil carbon content decrease in the lands with intensive management, namely estate corps, Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) and upland crops ranging from 0.12 to 1.39% per year. On the other hand, there was an increase of average carbon content on unmanaged land, covered by grass and shrub, between 0.24 to 0.75% per year. Below-ground carbon stock in the study area was between 1,926 to 6,644 Mg ha-1, the lowest was happened to be in abandoned bush land, and the highest was in the peat forest-bush area, and the variation was related to the peat depth.