Peat-fire impact on forest structure in peatland of central Kalimantan

Abstract

Tropical peatland forests are unique ecosystems, because of their extreme acidic, anaerobic and nutrient poor conditions. They support diverse forms of flora, fauna and microbes with many endemic and endangered species. In Central Kalimantan, peat fire has been a serious problem since the last decade. Peat fire is a major cause of peatland degradation that leads to loss of biodiversity and carbon stocks. In this study, we evaluated the impact of fire disturbance to forest structure and reforestation from the comparison among peatland forests with different disturbance severity. Results from current research revealed that (1) un-burnt forest maintained higher tree species diversity, larger basal area and trunk volume index than burnt forests, (2) once-burnt forest showed potential capacity of high recovery, (3) the forest affected fire showed significant floristic and structural changes and difficulty of recover.