A Parameterized Model for Peat Formation and Water Table Dynamics in Tropical Peat Swamp Forests of Brunei Darussalam
Abstract
In tropical peat swamp forests carbon sequestration and emission are tightly coupled to hydrological processes. Little is know about how these processes operate under natural conditions because few undisturbed peat forests remain. We present a combined groundwater-decomposition model of tropical peat forest parameterized by two years of field measurements from two field sites in Brunei Darussalam. The measurements at these sites, one pristine and one deforested but not drained, include continuous water table, throughfall and rainfall data. The model represents hourly shifts in the water table elevation driven by rainfall, runoff and evaporation and combines these hydrologic components with a representation of the peat surface texture and decay rates of both exposed and saturated peat. By linking these small-scale processes to kilometer scale flow, the model reproduces the growth of large, approximately parabolic peat domes over millennia. We show that nonlinear dynamics in the system lead to a strong dependency of peat formation and decomposition rates on the seasonality of rainfall.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.H54B..07C
- Keywords:
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- 1813 HYDROLOGY / Eco-hydrology