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
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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, [email protected]
• 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
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