Department of Geography, 1 Arts Link, #03-01 Block AS2, National University of Singapore, 117570, Singapore.
Department of Geography, 1 Arts Link, #03-01 Block AS2, National University of Singapore, 117570, Singapore; Integrated Tropical Peatlands Research Programme, NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), T-Labs, National University of Singapore, 5A Engineering Drive 1, 117411, Singapore.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jan 20;753:142111. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142111. Epub 2020 Sep 3.
Peatlands cover approximately 4.2 million km of terrestrial land surface and store up to 700 Pg of terrestrial carbon. Preserving the carbon stocks in peatland is therefore crucial for climate change mitigation. Under natural conditions, peatland carbon storage is maintained by moist peat conditions, which decreases decomposition and encourages peat formation. However, conversion of peatlands to drainage-based agriculture in the form of industrial plantations and smallholder farming has resulted in globally significant greenhouse gas emissions. Paludiculture, loosely conceptualized as biomass production on wet peatlands with the potential to maintain carbon storage, is proposed as a sustainable, non-drainage-based agriculture alternative for peatland use. However, while the concept of paludiculture was developed in temperate ecoregions, its application in the tropics is poorly understood. In this review, we examine common definitions of paludiculture used in literature to derive key themes and future directions. We found three common themes: ecosystem services benefits of paludiculture, hydrological conditions of peatlands, and vegetation selection for planting. Ambiguities surrounding these themes have led to questions on whether paludiculture applications are sustainable in the context of carbon sequestration in peat soil. This review aims to evaluate and advance current understanding of paludiculture in the context of tropical peatlands, which is especially pertinent given expanding agriculture development into Central Africa and South America, where large reserves of peatlands were recently discovered.
泥炭地覆盖了大约 420 万平方千米的陆地表面，储存了多达 700 千兆吨的陆地碳。因此，保护泥炭地的碳储量对于减缓气候变化至关重要。在自然条件下，泥炭地的碳储存是通过保持湿润的泥炭条件来维持的，这种条件可以减少分解作用并促进泥炭的形成。然而，将泥炭地转换为以工业种植园和小农经营为形式的排水型农业，已经导致了全球范围内显著的温室气体排放。沼泽农业（Paludiculture）是一个广义的概念，指在湿地泥炭地上进行生物质生产，有潜力维持碳储存，被提议作为一种可持续的、非排水型农业替代方案来利用泥炭地。然而，尽管沼泽农业的概念是在温带生态区发展起来的，但它在热带地区的应用却知之甚少。在这篇综述中，我们检查了文献中用于沼泽农业的常见定义，以得出关键主题和未来方向。我们发现了三个常见的主题：沼泽农业的生态系统服务效益、泥炭地的水文条件和植被选择用于种植。这些主题的模糊性导致了关于沼泽农业应用在泥炭土壤碳封存方面是否可持续的问题。本综述旨在评估和推进热带泥炭地沼泽农业的现有理解，鉴于中非和南美洲正在扩大农业发展，并且最近发现了大量的泥炭地储备，这一点尤为重要。
