Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantation on tropical peatland in South East Asia: photosynthetic response to soil drainage level for mitigation of soil carbon emissions

Jon McCalmont; Lip Khoon Kho; Yit Arn Teh; Melanie Chocholek; Elisa Rumpang; Lucy Rowland; Mohd Hadi Akbar  Basri; Tim Hill

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159356

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantation on tropical peatland in South East Asia: photosynthetic response to soil drainage level for mitigation of soil carbon emissions

Jon McCalmont^* (Corresponding Author), Lip Khoon Kho, Yit Arn Teh, Melanie Chocholek, Elisa Rumpang, Lucy Rowland, Mohd Hadi Akbar Basri, Tim Hill

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

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

Abstract

While existing moratoria in Indonesia and Malaysia should preclude continued large scale expansion of palm oil production into new areas of South-East Asian tropical peatland, existing plantations in the region remain a globally significant source of atmospheric carbon due to drainage driven decomposition of peatland soils. Previous studies have made clear the direct link between drainage depth and peat carbon decomposition and significant reductions in the emission rate of CO2 can be made by raising water tables nearer to the soil surface. However, the impact of such changes on palm fruit yield is not well understood and will be a critical consideration for plantation managers. Here we take advantage of very high frequency, long-term monitoring of canopy-scale carbon exchange at a mature oil palm plantation in Malaysian Borneo to investigate the relationship between drainage level and photosynthetic uptake and consider the confounding effects of light quality and atmospheric vapour pressure deficit. Canopy modelling from our dataset demonstrated that palms were exerting significantly
greater stomatal control at deeper water table depths (WTD) and the optimum WTD for photosynthesis was found to be between 0.3 and 0.4 m below the soil surface. Raising WTD to this level, from the industry typical drainage level of 0.6 m, could increase photosynthetic uptake by 3.6% and reduce soil surface emission of CO2 by 11%. Our study site further showed that despite being poorly drained compared to other planting blocks at the same plantation, monthly fruit bunch yield was, on average, 14% greater. While these results are encouraging, and at least suggest that raising WTD closer to the soil surface to reduce emissions is unlikely to produce significant yield penalties, our results are limited to a single study site and more work is urgently needed to confirm these results at other plantations.

Original language	English
Article number	159356
Number of pages	13
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	858
Issue number	Part 1
Early online date	8 Nov 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159356
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Director-General of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for permission to publish these results. This study was carried out as part of a wider tropical peat research collaboration between MPOB, University of Exeter, University of Aberdeen and Newcastle University and we would like to thank the Sarawak Oil Palm Berhard (SOPB) for their help and support during the project. Specifically, at SOPB we would like to thank: Paul Wong Hee Kwong (group CEO), Chua Kian Hong (group plantation manager), Phang Seng Nam (regional plantation controller) and the Sabaju and Sebungan plantation managers for being kind enough to allow the research platform to be established within their plantations and the provision of logistical support when needed. At MPOB we would particularly like to thank the dedicated field technicians, without whose efforts and commitment this research would not have been possible, specifically Ham Jonathon, Muhammad Amira Ruzaizul Bin Bujang and Steward Saging. Finally, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for giving their valuable time to provide help and advice for the improvement of the paper.
Funding
The research was carried out as part of a project funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The research was carried out with the support of Sarawak Oil Palm Berhard (SOPB) on whose land the research project was based.

Keywords

Oil palm
Eddy covariance
tropical peatland
CO2 emission
photosynthetic uptake
drainage level

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McCalmont_etal_STE_Oil_Palm_Elaeis_AAM
© 2022. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Cite this

McCalmont, J., Kho, L. K., Teh, Y. A., Chocholek, M., Rumpang, E., Rowland, L., Basri, M. H. A., & Hill, T. (2023). Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantation on tropical peatland in South East Asia: photosynthetic response to soil drainage level for mitigation of soil carbon emissions. Science of the Total Environment, 858(Part 1), Article 159356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159356

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantation on tropical peatland in South East Asia: photosynthetic response to soil drainage level for mitigation of soil carbon emissions. / McCalmont, Jon (Corresponding Author); Kho, Lip Khoon; Teh, Yit Arn et al.
In: Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 858, No. Part 1, 159356, 01.02.2023.

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

McCalmont, J, Kho, LK, Teh, YA, Chocholek, M, Rumpang, E, Rowland, L, Basri, MHA & Hill, T 2023, 'Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantation on tropical peatland in South East Asia: photosynthetic response to soil drainage level for mitigation of soil carbon emissions', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 858, no. Part 1, 159356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159356

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abstract = "While existing moratoria in Indonesia and Malaysia should preclude continued large scale expansion of palm oil production into new areas of South-East Asian tropical peatland, existing plantations in the region remain a globally significant source of atmospheric carbon due to drainage driven decomposition of peatland soils. Previous studies have made clear the direct link between drainage depth and peat carbon decomposition and significant reductions in the emission rate of CO2 can be made by raising water tables nearer to the soil surface. However, the impact of such changes on palm fruit yield is not well understood and will be a critical consideration for plantation managers. Here we take advantage of very high frequency, long-term monitoring of canopy-scale carbon exchange at a mature oil palm plantation in Malaysian Borneo to investigate the relationship between drainage level and photosynthetic uptake and consider the confounding effects of light quality and atmospheric vapour pressure deficit. Canopy modelling from our dataset demonstrated that palms were exerting significantlygreater stomatal control at deeper water table depths (WTD) and the optimum WTD for photosynthesis was found to be between 0.3 and 0.4 m below the soil surface. Raising WTD to this level, from the industry typical drainage level of 0.6 m, could increase photosynthetic uptake by 3.6% and reduce soil surface emission of CO2 by 11%. Our study site further showed that despite being poorly drained compared to other planting blocks at the same plantation, monthly fruit bunch yield was, on average, 14% greater. While these results are encouraging, and at least suggest that raising WTD closer to the soil surface to reduce emissions is unlikely to produce significant yield penalties, our results are limited to a single study site and more work is urgently needed to confirm these results at other plantations.",

keywords = "Oil palm, Eddy covariance, tropical peatland, CO2 emission, photosynthetic uptake, drainage level",

author = "Jon McCalmont and Kho, {Lip Khoon} and Teh, {Yit Arn} and Melanie Chocholek and Elisa Rumpang and Lucy Rowland and Basri, {Mohd Hadi Akbar} and Tim Hill",

note = "Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the Director-General of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for permission to publish these results. This study was carried out as part of a wider tropical peat research collaboration between MPOB, University of Exeter, University of Aberdeen and Newcastle University and we would like to thank the Sarawak Oil Palm Berhard (SOPB) for their help and support during the project. Specifically, at SOPB we would like to thank: Paul Wong Hee Kwong (group CEO), Chua Kian Hong (group plantation manager), Phang Seng Nam (regional plantation controller) and the Sabaju and Sebungan plantation managers for being kind enough to allow the research platform to be established within their plantations and the provision of logistical support when needed. At MPOB we would particularly like to thank the dedicated field technicians, without whose efforts and commitment this research would not have been possible, specifically Ham Jonathon, Muhammad Amira Ruzaizul Bin Bujang and Steward Saging. Finally, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for giving their valuable time to provide help and advice for the improvement of the paper. Funding The research was carried out as part of a project funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The research was carried out with the support of Sarawak Oil Palm Berhard (SOPB) on whose land the research project was based.",

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AU - Chocholek, Melanie

AU - Rumpang, Elisa

AU - Rowland, Lucy

AU - Basri, Mohd Hadi Akbar

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N1 - Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the Director-General of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for permission to publish these results. This study was carried out as part of a wider tropical peat research collaboration between MPOB, University of Exeter, University of Aberdeen and Newcastle University and we would like to thank the Sarawak Oil Palm Berhard (SOPB) for their help and support during the project. Specifically, at SOPB we would like to thank: Paul Wong Hee Kwong (group CEO), Chua Kian Hong (group plantation manager), Phang Seng Nam (regional plantation controller) and the Sabaju and Sebungan plantation managers for being kind enough to allow the research platform to be established within their plantations and the provision of logistical support when needed. At MPOB we would particularly like to thank the dedicated field technicians, without whose efforts and commitment this research would not have been possible, specifically Ham Jonathon, Muhammad Amira Ruzaizul Bin Bujang and Steward Saging. Finally, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for giving their valuable time to provide help and advice for the improvement of the paper. Funding The research was carried out as part of a project funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The research was carried out with the support of Sarawak Oil Palm Berhard (SOPB) on whose land the research project was based.

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Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantation on tropical peatland in South East Asia: photosynthetic response to soil drainage level for mitigation of soil carbon emissions

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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