Sunday, January 10, 2016

Carbon Emissions From Indonesian Fires Depends on the Fire Type

Carbon emissions caused by burning tropical peatlands in Indonesia vary considerably depending on if the fires are initial or recurrent, according to new research conducted at the University of Leicester.

The study, which was co-authored by Professor Susan Page and Dr Kevin Tansey from the University of Leicester's Department of Geography, also found that peatlands closer to canals have a higher probability of high frequency fires, which release harmful carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

The study, 'Variable carbon losses from recurrent fires in drained tropical peatlands', which was conducted with researchers at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU) and published in the journal Global Change Biology, presents the first spatially explicit investigation of fire-driven tropical peat loss and its variability, suggesting that there is a strong relationship between burned area depth, fire frequency and distance to drainage canals in tropical peatlands.

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