Effects of changing drainage networks on carbon storage capacity of Southeast Asian peatlands

Since 1990, intact forest cover in tropical peatlands of western insular Southeast Asia has dropped to less than 10%. Most deforested and degraded areas are also affected by drainage, which modifies most important ecological and biogeochemical processes, including carbon dioxide fluxes, methane fluxes, fire risk, and vegetational succession. Therefore, in this region, peatland ecosystem processes and their response to anthropogenic change occur against the background of long-term spatial impacts from changing drainage networks. We build on earlier work on tropical peatland morphology to develop spatial predictions of the long-term effects of drainage network configuration on tropical peatlands. We apply this analysis to examine the impacts of anthropogenic drainage on the capacity for carbon storage within natural and artificial drainage networks in Southeast Asia. With a case study, we then show how this approach can be used to produce quantitative estimates of how much peat will be lost or gained in the long term, and where, after drainage or restoration projects.