Tropical peatlands are significant sources of methane (CH₄), but their contribution to the global CH₄ budget remains poorly quantified due to the lack of long-term, continuous and high-frequency flux measurements. To address this gap, we measured net ecosystem CH4 exchange (NEE-CH4) using eddy covariance technique throughout the conversion of a tropical peat swamp forest to an oil palm plantation. This encompassed the periods before, during and after conversion periods from 2014 to 2020, during which substantial environmental shifts were observed. Draining the peatland substantially lowered mean monthly groundwater levels from -20.0 ± 14.2 cm before conversion to -102.3 ± 31.6 cm during conversion and increased slightly to -96.5 ± 19.3 cm after conversion. Forest removal increased mean monthly soil temperature by 2.3 to 3.1 °C, reducing net radiation (Rn) and raising vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Following the tree removal, controlled burning temporarily warmed air temperature by 8 °C, increased VPD and significantly attenuated Rn, resulting in negative values owing to radiation interception by smoke and increased surface warming. Contrary to expectations that drainage would lower CH4 emissions, the site remained a consistent net source, with even higher emissions observed during and after conversion. The mean monthly NEE-CH4 during conversion (23.3 ± 8.6 mg C m-2 d-1) was about 2-times higher than before conversion (12.1 ± 5.3 mg C m-2 d-1) and about 1.5-times higher than after conversion (16.3 ± 4.1 mg C m-2 d-1). The heightened CH4 release is likely attributable to emissions from drainage ditches, underscoring their significant role in post-conversion CH4 dynamics. Despite its short duration, controlled burning substantially elevated NEE-CH4, ranging from 0.04 to 0.91 mg C m-2 s-1. Our findings highlight the substantial impact of land conversion on peatland CH4 dynamics, emphasizing the need for accurate flux measurements across various conversion stages to refine global CH4 budgets.
Oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia are the largest supplier of palm oil products and have been rapidly expanding in the last three decades even in peat-swamp areas. Oil palm plantations on peat ecosystems have a unique water management system that lowers the water table and, thus, may yield indirect N2O emissions from the peat drainage system. We conducted two seasons of spatial monitoring for the dissolved N2O concentrations in the drainage and adjacent rivers of palm oil plantations on peat swamps in Sarawak, Malaysia, to evaluate the magnitude of indirect N2O emissions from this ecosystem. In both the dry and wet seasons, the mean and median dissolved N2O concentrations exhibited over-saturation in the drainage water, i.e., the oil palm plantation drainage may be a source of N2O to the atmosphere. In the wet season, the spatial distribution of dissolved N2O showed bimodal peaks in both the unsaturated and over-saturated concentrations. The bulk δ15N of dissolved N2O was higher than the source of inorganic N in the oil palm plantation (i.e., N fertilizer and soil organic nitrogen) during both seasons. An isotopocule analysis of the dissolved N2O suggested that denitrification was a major source of N2O, followed by N2O reduction processes that occurred in the drainage water. The δ15N and site preference mapping analysis in dissolved N2O revealed that a significant proportion of the N2O produced in peat and drainage is reduced to N2 before being released into the atmosphere.