How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

Fitri Khusyu  Aini; Kristell Hergoualc'h; Jo U. Smith; Louis Verchot; Christopher Martius

doi:10.1002/ecs2.3284

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

Fitri Khusyu Aini, Kristell Hergoualc'h^* (Corresponding Author), Jo U. Smith, Louis Verchot, Christopher Martius

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Replacement of forest by agricultural systems is a major factor accelerating the emissions of greenhouse gases; however, related field studies in the tropics are very scarce. To evaluate the impact of forest transition to plantations on soil methane (CH4) and respiration (CO2) fluxes, we conducted measurements in an undisturbed forest, a disturbed forest, young and old rubber plantations, and an oil palm plantation on mineral soil in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia. Methane fluxes and their controlling variables were monitored monthly over fourteen months; soil respiration was measured less frequently. All of the plantations were managed by smallholders and had never been fertilized. To assess the effect of common management practices in oil palm plantations, we added urea at a rate of 33.3 kg N ha-1 29 and thereafter monitored intensively soil CH4 fluxes. The soil acted as a sink for CH4 (kg CH4-C ha-1 y-1 30 ) in the undisturbed forest (-1.4 ± 1.0) and young rubber plantation (-1.7 ± 0.7). This was not the case in the other land-use systems which had fluxes similar to fluxes in the undisturbed forest, with 0.4 ± 0.9, -0.2 ± 0.3 and 0.2 ± 0.7 kg ha-1 y-1 in the disturbed forest, old rubber plantation and oil palm plantation, respectively. In the oil palm plantation, there was no inhibitory effect of nitrogenous fertilizer on methanotrophy. Annual soil respiration (Mg CO2-C ha-y-1 35 ) was higher in the oil palm plantation (17.1 ± 1.9) than in the undisturbed forest (13.9 ± 1.2) while other land-use systems respired at a similar level to the undisturbed forest (13.1 ± 1.4, 15.9 ± 1.7, 37 14.1 ± 1.0 in the disturbed forest, young and old rubber plantations, respectively). Substrate (litterfall 38 and soil) availability and quality exerted a strong control over annual fluxes of both gases along the land use gradient. Temporal variation in CH4 was extremely high and in respiration fluxes was moderate, but was not specifically linked to seasonal variation. Further comprehensive and long-term research is critically needed to determine more thoroughly the direction and magnitude of changes in soil trace gas emissions as affected by forest-to-plantation conversion in the tropics

Original language	English
Article number	e03284
Number of pages	20
Journal	Ecosphere
Volume	11
Issue number	11
Early online date	10 Nov 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3284
Publication status	Published - 30 Nov 2020

Bibliographical note

This research was conducted under the REDD-ALERT project (Grant Agreement # 226310) with financial support from the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013]. It was also generously funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) (Grant Agreement # 46167) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) (Grant Agreement #QZA-10/0468). This work is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) programs on Trees, Forests and Agroforestry (FTA) and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Authors extend their gratitude to staff from Brawijaya University in Malang, the Indonesian Soil Research Institute (ISRI) in Bogor, and Balai Lingkungan Pertanian in Jakenan for laboratory support. We also thank Robbin Matthews and John Hillier, whose insights, feedbacks and recommendations contributed to improve the quality of the manuscript and to the modeling team of the School of Biological and Environmental Science from the University of Aberdeen for constructive discussions. Furthermore, we are very thankful to all assistants and to the REDD-ALERT Indonesia team who supported field work in Jambi. Finally, we are very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which contributed to improve this manuscript.

Keywords

CH4
CO2
forest conversion
land-use change
fertilizer
smallholder
CH
CO

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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title = "How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?",

abstract = "Replacement of forest by agricultural systems is a major factor accelerating the emissions of greenhouse gases; however, related field studies in the tropics are very scarce. To evaluate the impact of forest transition to plantations on soil methane (CH4) and respiration (CO2) fluxes, we conducted measurements in an undisturbed forest, a disturbed forest, young and old rubber plantations, and an oil palm plantation on mineral soil in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia. Methane fluxes and their controlling variables were monitored monthly over fourteen months; soil respiration was measured less frequently. All of the plantations were managed by smallholders and had never been fertilized. To assess the effect of common management practices in oil palm plantations, we added urea at a rate of 33.3 kg N ha-1 29 and thereafter monitored intensively soil CH4 fluxes. The soil acted as a sink for CH4 (kg CH4-C ha-1 y-1 30 ) in the undisturbed forest (-1.4 ± 1.0) and young rubber plantation (-1.7 ± 0.7). This was not the case in the other land-use systems which had fluxes similar to fluxes in the undisturbed forest, with 0.4 ± 0.9, -0.2 ± 0.3 and 0.2 ± 0.7 kg ha-1 y-1 in the disturbed forest, old rubber plantation and oil palm plantation, respectively. In the oil palm plantation, there was no inhibitory effect of nitrogenous fertilizer on methanotrophy. Annual soil respiration (Mg CO2-C ha-y-1 35 ) was higher in the oil palm plantation (17.1 ± 1.9) than in the undisturbed forest (13.9 ± 1.2) while other land-use systems respired at a similar level to the undisturbed forest (13.1 ± 1.4, 15.9 ± 1.7, 37 14.1 ± 1.0 in the disturbed forest, young and old rubber plantations, respectively). Substrate (litterfall 38 and soil) availability and quality exerted a strong control over annual fluxes of both gases along the land use gradient. Temporal variation in CH4 was extremely high and in respiration fluxes was moderate, but was not specifically linked to seasonal variation. Further comprehensive and long-term research is critically needed to determine more thoroughly the direction and magnitude of changes in soil trace gas emissions as affected by forest-to-plantation conversion in the tropics",

keywords = "CH4, CO2, forest conversion, land-use change, fertilizer, smallholder, CH, CO",

author = "Aini, {Fitri Khusyu} and Kristell Hergoualc'h and Smith, {Jo U.} and Louis Verchot and Christopher Martius",

note = "This research was conducted under the REDD-ALERT project (Grant Agreement # 226310) with financial support from the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013]. It was also generously funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) (Grant Agreement # 46167) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) (Grant Agreement #QZA-10/0468). This work is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) programs on Trees, Forests and Agroforestry (FTA) and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Authors extend their gratitude to staff from Brawijaya University in Malang, the Indonesian Soil Research Institute (ISRI) in Bogor, and Balai Lingkungan Pertanian in Jakenan for laboratory support. We also thank Robbin Matthews and John Hillier, whose insights, feedbacks and recommendations contributed to improve the quality of the manuscript and to the modeling team of the School of Biological and Environmental Science from the University of Aberdeen for constructive discussions. Furthermore, we are very thankful to all assistants and to the REDD-ALERT Indonesia team who supported field work in Jambi. Finally, we are very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which contributed to improve this manuscript.",

year = "2020",

month = nov,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1002/ecs2.3284",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

journal = "Ecosphere",

issn = "2150-8925",