Tropical Peatland Ecosystems

Tropical Peatland Ecosystems

Author: Mitsuru Osaki

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-12-07

Total Pages: 633

ISBN-13: 4431556818

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This book is an excellent resource for scientists, political decision makers, and students interested in the impact of peatlands on climate change and ecosystem function, containing a plethora of recent research results such as monitoring-sensing-modeling for carbon–water flux/storage, biodiversity and peatland management in tropical regions. It is estimated that more than 23 million hectares (62 %) of the total global tropical peatland area are located in Southeast Asia, in lowland or coastal areas of East Sumatra, Kalimantan, West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak and Southeast Thailand. Tropical peatland has a vital carbon–water storage function and is host to a huge diversity of plant and animal species. Peatland ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to climate change and the impacts of human activities such as logging, drainage and conversion to agricultural land. In Southeast Asia, severe episodic droughts associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, in combination with over-drainage, forest degradation, and land-use changes, have caused widespread peatland fires and microbial peat oxidation. Indonesia's 20 Mha peatland area is estimated to include about 45–55 GtC of carbon stocks. As a result of land use and development, Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases (2–3 Gtons carbon dioxide equivalent per year), 80 % of which is due to deforestation and peatland loss. Thus, tropical peatlands are key ecosystems in terms of the carbon–water cycle and climate change.


The Wetland Book

The Wetland Book

Author: C. Max Finlayson

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-06-07

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789400740006

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The Wetland Book is a comprehensive resource aimed at supporting the trans- and multidisciplinary research and practice which is inherent to this field. Aware both that wetlands research is on the rise and that researchers and students are often working or learning across several disciplines, The Wetland Book is a readily accessible online and print reference which will be the first port of call on key concepts in wetlands science and management. This easy-to-follow reference will allow multidisciplinary teams and transdisciplinary individuals to look up terms, access further details, read overviews on key issues and navigate to key articles selected by experts.


Biotic Evolution and Environmental Change in Southeast Asia

Biotic Evolution and Environmental Change in Southeast Asia

Author: David Gower

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-07-19

Total Pages: 499

ISBN-13: 1139536222

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The flora and fauna of Southeast Asia are exceptionally diverse. The region includes several terrestrial biodiversity hotspots and is the principal global hotspot for marine diversity, but it also faces the most intense challenges of the current global biodiversity crisis. Providing reviews, syntheses and results of the latest research into Southeast Asian earth and organismal history, this book investigates the history, present and future of the fauna and flora of this bio- and geodiverse region. Leading authorities in the field explore key topics including palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, biogeography, population genetics and conservation biology, illustrating research approaches and themes with spatially, taxonomically and methodologically focused case studies. The volume also presents methodological advances in population genetics and historical biogeography. Exploring the fascinating environmental and biotic histories of Southeast Asia, this is an ideal resource for graduate students and researchers as well as environmental NGOs.


Tropical Peatland Eco-management

Tropical Peatland Eco-management

Author: Mitsuru Osaki

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-04-09

Total Pages: 802

ISBN-13: 981334654X

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In this "Tropical Peatland Eco-management" book, eco-management is new terminology as an abbreviation of "ecology-based management for natural capital enhancement". Key concept on this eco-management is derived from previous book: "Tropical Peatland Ecosystem"(Springer, 2015, eds. by M. Osaki and N. Tsuji). Based on this new concept, this book thoroughly examines tropical peatland eco-management for scientists, political decision makers, governmental officials, land managers, students, and NGO/NPOs who are interested in 1) what the impact of peatland on climate change and ecosystem function, 2) how the management of disturbed peatland, and 3) drawing global scale restoration mechanisms of peatland and wetland. In tropical peatland, a large amount of GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) is emitted due to the unappropriate development and inadequate management of peatland. The peatland ecosystems consist of the carbon–water complex, which is affected easily by the impact of human and climate change. Throughout much research of tropical peatland, the problems that result from development of tropical peatland are found to stem mainly from a lack of understanding of the complexities of this ecosystem and the fragility of the relationship between peat and forest and also between carbon and water. In past, almost all peatland development and management system have been generally designed on “water drainage system”. On the contrast of old system, an innovated eco- management is, here, proposed as “water irrigation system”, including water cycling and natural capital enhancement. Through this book readers will learn the advanced peatland eco-management, with more practical methods and procedure based on ecosystem knowledge.


Tropical Peatlands

Tropical Peatlands

Author: Jack Rieley

Publisher: Earthscan / James & James

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9781849713221

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Tropical peatlands are found mostly in South East Asia, but also in Africa and in Central and South America. They and peat-swamp forests store large amounts of carbon and their destruction, particularly through the development of plantations for oil palm and other forms of agriculture, releases large quantities of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. They are also complex and vulnerable ecosystems, home to great biodiversity and a number of endangered species such as the orang utan.The aim of this book is to introduce this little known but important and vulnerable ecosystem in a way that explains its long standing interaction with the global carbon cycle and how it is being destroyed by deforestation and inappropriate development. The authors describe the origin and formation of peat in the tropics, its current location, extent and amount of carbon stored in it, its biodiversity and natural resource functions and key ecological functions and processes. Appropriate hydrology is the key to the development and maintenance of peatlands and the unique aspects of tropical peatland water supply and management are also explored. In the same vein the nutrient dynamics and budgets of this ecosystem are explained in order to show how complex habitats can be maintained mainly by rainwater containing very low concentrations of essential chemical elements. Past and present impacts on tropical peatlands in SE Asia are discussed and the need for restoration and wise use highlighted. Finally, projections are made about the future of this ecosystem as a result of continuing human impacts and climate change.


Swamplands

Swamplands

Author: Edward Struzik

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2021-10-12

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1642830801

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In a world filled with breathtaking beauty, we have often overlooked the elusive magic of certain landscapes. A cloudy river flows into an Arctic wetland where sandhill cranes and muskoxen dwell. Further south, cypress branches hang low over dismal swamps. Places like these-collectively known as swamplands or peatlands-often go unnoticed for their ecological splendor. They are as globally significant as rainforests, yet, because of their reputation as wastelands, they are being systematically drained and degraded. Swamplands celebrates these wild places, as journalist Edward Struzik highlights the unappreciated struggle to save peatlands by scientists, conservationists, and landowners around the world. An ode to peaty landscapes in all their offbeat glory, the book is also a demand for awareness of the myriad threats they face. It inspires us to see the beauty and importance in these least likely of places­. Our planet's survival might depend on it.


Tropical Fire Ecology

Tropical Fire Ecology

Author: Mark Cochrane

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-04-11

Total Pages: 696

ISBN-13: 3540773819

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The tropics are home to most of the world’s biodiversity and are currently the frontier for human settlement. Tropical ecosystems are being converted to agricultural and other land uses at unprecedented rates. Land conversion and maintenance almost always rely on fire and, because of this, fire is now more prevalent in the tropics than anywhere else on Earth. Despite pervasive fire, human settlement and threatened biodiversity, there is little comprehensive information available on fire and its effects in tropical ecosystems. Tropical deforestation, especially in rainforests, has been widely documented for many years. Forests are cut down and allowed to dry before being burned to remove biomass and release nutrients to grow crops. However, fires do not always stop at the borders of cleared forests. Tremendously damaging fires are increasingly spreading into forests that were never evolutionarily prepared for wild fires. The largest fires on the planet in recent decades have occurred in tropical forests and burned millions of hectares in several countries. The numerous ecosystems of the tropics have differing levels of fire resistance, resilience or dependence. At present, there is little appreciation of the seriousness of the wild fire situation in tropical rainforests but there is even less understanding of the role that fire plays in the ecology of many fire adapted tropical ecosystems, such as savannas, grasslands and other forest types.


Mires

Mires

Author: Anthony John Poynter Gore

Publisher:

Published: 1977

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780444420046

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