www.le.ac.uk 20 years of tropical forest research at the university of leicester sue page, kevin...

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