Borneo peat bog forests

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The peat bog forests of Borneo are an ecoregion that exists on the island of Borneo in the countries of Brunei , Indonesia and Malaysia .

Location and description

The peat bog forests of Borneo are peat forests lying in shallow water . The water prevents the composting of dead plant parts, which, however, form a thin layer of peat after a few years . The peat bog forests are located in the Indonesian region of Kalimantan , in the Malaysian state of Sarawak and in the Belait district in Brunei in flat areas near the coast. You are behind in brackish water located mangrove forests and inland from the rainforest limited in Borneo. There are also peat bog forests fed by fresh water from rivers in higher areas around the Mahakam River and Lake Sentarum , which lies on the Kapuas River . The peat bog forests are in the area of influence of the monsoons .

Current events

In recent years, the Indonesian government has cut over 1 million hectares of peat bog forest as part of the Mega Rice Project in order to gain agricultural land. Between 1996 and 1998 around 4000 km of irrigation canals were created. The deforestation was created partly legally, partly through illegal logging and by burning down what remains. The water channels, roads and railways built for legal logging are also used for illegal logging. In the areas of the Mega Rice Project, the forest cover fell from 64.8% to 47.7%; since then, the deforestation has continued. Much of the valuable trees in this area were felled and the wood sold. The main consequences of agricultural use are the flooding times. The dirty water from the canals was washed into the peat bog forests, polluting the water there; as a result, the Mega Rice Project was stopped. The artificially created forest fires also increased CO 2 emissions in Indonesia.

ecology

Peat bog forest in Kalimantan

About 62% of the tropical peat deposits are in the Indo-Malaysian region (80% in Indonesia, 11% in Malaysia, 6% in Papua New Guinea , and smaller parts in Brunei, Vietnam , the Philippines and Thailand ). There are atypical ecosystems with trees over 70 meters high, which differ significantly from the peat areas in the temperate and boreal areas in the north. The spongy, unstable, water-soaked and oxygen-free peat layers can be up to 20 meters deep and have a pH value of 2.9 to 4. They are poor in nutrients, and the forest floor is flooded there seasonally. The water is dark brown in color due to the tannins that come off the fallen leaves and peat. During the dry season, the peat remains soaked in water and smaller pools are formed.

Despite the extreme conditions, 927 species of flowering plants and ferns have been recorded in the peat bog forests of Borneo. A pattern of forest species can be seen in the center of the moors. In the tree families there you can see the forest species outwards. Most of the tree families were discovered in the wingfruit forests in the lowlands. Many trees have stilt roots to support themselves on the unstable ground. They also have roots of breath to facilitate gas exchange. The trees form thick root mats over 50 cm above the peat to enable the absorption of oxygen and nutrients.

Ground vegetation in the Gunung Mulu National Park , in the foreground Nepenthes bicalcarata

The peat bogs in the Borneo lowlands are around 5000 years old. Inshore forests that grow on sea mud and sand and forests near lakes in Kalimantan are over 11,000 years old.

One reason for the nutrient-poor conditions is that watercourses and rivers do not flow into the forests. Water only flows out of the forest, so that additional nutrients only get into the forests through rain and fog. To cope with nutrient deficiencies, plants have developed chemical and physical (e.g. hard leaves, spiders, and thorns) defense strategies so that once the leaves fall off, the leaves turn to peat. Although the chemical components are quickly removed from the leaves, the physical structure protects the leaves from composting by bacteria and fungi. The physical structure decays slowly, so that peat forms. This is in contrast to the lowland forests, where leaves compost very quickly and nutrients are formed quickly . If non-endemic plant species settle in peat bog forests, they die quickly. After a year in the mud, however, you can no longer tell the difference visually. Usable nutrients for the trees come from the fallen leaves, because these are quickly absorbed by the root mats. It was believed that low pH levels and the absence of oxygen in the peat layers prevent bacteria and fungi from surviving in the peat bog forests, but recent studies have shown that survival works in diverse communities.

Flora and fauna

There is a great diversity of species in the forests. Gibbons and orangutans are native to the area . In parts of the forests, the river islands in the moors are important habitats for long-tailed macaques , silver crested langurs and proboscis monkeys . Numerous bat species and over 200 bird species live in the forests. The watercourses in the peat bog forests are home to otters, waterfowl, sunday gavials and crocodiles , as well as fish such as the Asian forked beard , as well as licorice and chocolate gouramis .

conservation

The attempts to preserve the peat bog forests are too minimal compared to the destruction caused by commercial logging of the forests. This is currently happening in Sarawak and is planned in Brunei. A plan of the eco-friendly foundation and non-governmental organization Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is to protect the peat bog forests of Mawas through various types of funding. Preserving and renaturalizing peat bog forests are more efficient goals than reducing deforestation (in terms of carbon credits through REDD + ); The reasons for this are the significantly larger reduced emissions per m² and the cheaper costs. Over 6% of the original peat forests are located within protected areas; the largest are the Tanjung Puting National Park and the Sebangau National Park .

photos

  • Air pollution in Asia 1997

  • Satellite image of Borneo with the smoke from burning peat bog forests

Web links

literature

  • CR Jackson; KC Liew; CM Yule; Structural and functional changes with depth in microbial communities in tropical peat swamp forest sediments ; Microbial ecology ; 2008; doi : 10.1007 / s00248-008-9409-4
  • F. Pearce; Bog barons: Indonesia's carbon catastrophe ; New Scientist ; Issue 1; December 2007
  • CM Yule; L. Gomez; Leaf litter decomposition in a tropical peat swamp forest in Peninsular Malaysia ; Westlands Ecology and Management ; 2008
  • H. Voglmayr and CM Yule; 2006; Polyancora globosa gen. Et sp. nov., an aeroaquatic fungus from Malaysian peat swamp forests. Mycological Research;

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Southeastern Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. WWF , archived from the original on June 20, 2018 ; accessed on June 20, 2018 .
  2. ^ JO Rieley; AA Ahmed-Shah; MA Brady: The extent and nature of tropical peat swamps. In: Tropical lowland peatlands of Southeast Asia, proceedings of a workshop on integrated planning and management of tropical lowland peatlands held at Cisarua . August 1992.
  3. ↑ a b SE Page; JO Rieley; R. Wüst: Lowland tropical peatlands of Southeast Asia . In: Peatlands: Evolution and Records of Environmental and Climate Changes. 2006, p. 145-172 .
  4. ↑ Catherine M. Yule: Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in Indo-Malayan peat swamp forests . 2008.
  5. ^ JAR Anderson: The flora of the peat swamp forests of Sarawak and Brunei. Including a catalog of all recorded species of flowering plants, ferns and fern allies . Garden's Bull , Singapore , p. 131 ff .
  6. ^ A. Latiff: An overview of the significant findings of the biodiversity expedition to the peat swamp forest of Sungai Bebar, Pahang . In: Biodiversity Expedition Sungai Bebar, Pekan, Pahang, Summary Findings. Peat Swamp Forest Project, UNDP / GEF Funded, in collaboration with the Pahang Forestry Department and University Kebangsaan Malaysia .
  7. ^ JO Rieley; RG Sieffermann, SE Page: The origin, development, present status and importance of the lowland peat swamp forests of Borneo . Suo, 1992, p. 241 to 244 .
  8. ↑ John Mathai: PEAT portal. John Mathai October 5, 2009; archived from the original January 13, 2012 ; accessed on June 21, 2018 (English).