www.le.ac.uk

20 years of Tropical Forest Research at the University of Leicester

Sue Page, Kevin Tansey, Heiko Balzter, Agata Hoscilo, Matthew Waldram, Milton Romero-Ruiz, Pedro Rodriguez-Veiga, Bashar Dahdal, James Wheeler, Sarah Owen, Narissara Nuthammachot, Outi Lahteenoja, Wayne Murphy et al.

Focus of NCEO collaboration

• Tropical forest degradation – implications for C cycle

• Use & applications of remote sensing – optical & radar (ALOS-PALSAR – Matt Waldram)

• Focus on tropical peatlands – especially peat swamp forest in SE Asia

• Scale of GHG emissions

• Implications for REDD, land-use planning, biofuel policies etc.

Tropical peat carbon pool

Best estimate 89 GtRange 82 - 92 Gt69 Gt (77%) in Southeast Asia

65%

10%

11%

8%

3%

Equivalent to:3.5% global vegetation & soil carbon pool 15-19% global peatland carbon store

(Page et al. 2011. Global Change Biology )Page et al. 2011 Global Change Biology

SE Asia Amazonia

Africa?

Congo Basin ~ 10,000 km2 with depths up to 60 m?

Peatland typology & extent – Pastasza Fan, Peruvian Amazonia

Lahteenoja & Page 2011 Journal of Geophysical Research

Impacts of disturbance

Modeling carbon emissions from drainage of tropical peatlands

(peat oxidation emissions)

Current tropical peat drainage emissions equivalent to 1.4 – 3.5 % of global emissions from fossil fuels (25,000 Mt CO2 yr-1) (excluding initial biomass loss & fire)

[based on 91 t ha-1 y-1 CO2 at 1 m & 46 t ha-1 y-1 at 0.5 m drainage]

(Hooijer, Page et al. 2010, Biogeosciences)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1980 2000 2020 2040 2060 2080 2100

CO

2 e

mis

sio

n (

Mt/

y)

Minimum due to peat decomposition

Likely due to peat decomposition

Maximum due to peat decomposition

CO2 emissions due to peatland drainage (fires excluded), SE AsiaPEAT-CO2 / Delft Hydraulics draft results

present likely

Near-current (2005):

355-874 Mt CO2 yr-1

(100–240 Mt C yr-1 )

Projected (2015-2035):

557-981 Mt CO2 yr-1

(150-270 Mt C yr-1 )

Modeling carbon emissions from drainage of tropical peatlands

• Constraints

• Scale of unit heterotrophic CO2 emissions• Usefulness of published data limited by

• low data amount in individual studies i.e. data sets too small to describe the phenomenon both spatially & temporally

• CO2 emissions from heterotrophic (decomposition) processes and autotrophic (root) respiration not separated

• poor method description and data collection procedures

• Extent of drained peatlands• Lack of objective up-to-date information on the extent of drained peatlands –

in particular industrial plantations

Confirming scale of unit CO2 emissions:Study in plantation on peatland in Sumatra, Indonesia

• Study sets a standard for greenhouse gas flux studies from tropical peatlands under agricultural management. • First to purposefully quantify heterotrophic CO2 emissions. • Provides most scientifically- and statistically-rigorous study to date of CO2 emissions.

(Jauhiainen, Hooijer & Page (2012) Biogeosciences

1 22 33 10

‘Near to trees’ flux spots

‘Furthest from trees’ spots in the centre (optional CH4/N2O collar in the middle)

Trenched area

48 cm

Average distance

90 cm134 cm

354 cm178 cm

• Mean heterotrophic CO2 emission (±SE) 1053±88 mg m-2 h-1 at 0.78 m average water table depth = 92 t ha-1 y-1

• After correction for diurnal temp fluctuation ~80 t ha-1 y-1

• Carbon loss still considerable even at highest water levels theoretically possible in plantations; loss of forest canopy, higher peat surface temperature, fertilisation all enhance CO2 emissions

(From: Hooijer, Miettinen, Tollenaar, Page, Malins, Vernimmen, Chenghua Shi, Soo Chin Liew (2012) ICCT White Paper No. 16)Mietinnen ….. & Page (accepted) Global Change Biology-Bioenergy

Policy impact

• Two white papers for International Council on Clean Transportation

• White Paper 15 – Review of GHG emissions from oil palm plantations on peat

• White Paper 16 – Historical, current and projected future extent of oil palm plantations on peat

• EU, EPA & CARB biofuel policies

Peat swamp forest disturbance

• Paper published in Nature

• First estimates of carbon losses as a result of El Nino fires in 1997

• Multi-sensor approaches

1992-

Forest fire severity

• EC funded

• Mapped land cover change and forest disturbance

• Fire severity indicators established

• Consultancy projects

2006-2009

Other consequences of peat oxidation & fire

• Change in organic geochemistry + formation of black carbon

• Change in surface water-repellency

• Increased fluvial C losses (esp. DOC)

• Surface subsidence (~5 cm/yr)* flooding

28 yrs

*(Hooijer, Page, Jauhiainen et al, Biogeosciences, in press)

*Hooijer, Page & Jauhiainen (2012-in press) Biogeosciences

InSAR observations of peat swamp forest

• Surface subsidence following disturbance mapped

• Implications for C loss estimates

2007-2011

Research themes:• Forest monitoring• Land cover and change• Coastal zone and freshwater monitoring• Geohazards and emergency response• Climate adaptation and emergency response

GIONET: A European Centre of Excellence in Earth Observation research training

Forest Monitoring of the Congo Basin

• EC funded

• Mapping forest loss using spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical sensors

2011-2014

ALOS-PALSAR 10-m dual polarised RGB composite

Source JAXA-METI, 2009

Landsat 5 mosaic (1984, 1986) RGB composite (bands 4, 5, 7 )

Source CARPE-UMD, 2006

Forest /non forest land cover map (derived from SAR data)

Source JAXA-METI, 2009

Central Congo Basin Data Comparison

The next ideas ...• Pollution mapping using hyperspectral data – e.g. in Ecuadorean

rainforest

• Forest biomass mapping across Thailand using multi-sensor EO data sets for REDD+ MRV

• Global peat swamp forest mapping & degradation analysis

• Biofuels on peat – current & future trends & drivers

• Impacts of peatland subsidence on flood risk in SE Asia

• Extend C & GHG emission studies (DOC, CH4, N20)

• Develop landscape-scale C models (hydrology+fire+vegetation+peat oxidation etc) REDD

• Peat swamp forest ecosystem rehabilitation

Aims: • Established in 2012, the new Centre for Landscape and

Climate Research has the mission to advance research excellence by providing a forum for postgraduate research students, post-doctoral researchers and academic staff to undertake cutting edge research projects.

Centre for Landscape and Climate ResearchDirector: Prof. Heiko Balzter, hb91@le.ac.uk

• The research in the centre is investigating how and at which scales change in the water cycle affect ecosystem services such as drinking water supply, carbon uptake and food security.

• The centre director, Professor Heiko Balzter, is also Coordinator of the European Centre of Excellence in Earth Observation Research Training GIONET (www.gionet.eu).

• The concentration of research activity through the close links between the Department of Geography, the Centre for Landscape and Climate Research, GIONET and SPLINT provides a truly outstanding research environment.

• Whether you are thinking of a PhD degree, a Masters by Research (MRes) or a taught MSc/MA course, we provide an intellectually creative and innovative home for your postgraduate degree.

To develop successful partnership

• The science underpinning the applications

• Interested in high-frequency observations

• Interested in large area coverage

• Validating observations with field measurement

• Accurate monitoring and reporting of deforestation and degradation

• Compiling biomass information systems