Chapter 2
Principles of Eco-Management
in a Large-Scale Ecosystem of Tropical
Peatland
Tsuyoshi Kato, Mitsuru Osaki, Nobuyuki Tsuji, and Sisva Silsigia
Abstract In dome-shaped tropical peatlands, mainly on the maritime continent of
Southeast Asia, rainfall provides the only water supply and no nutrients, which has a
very strong impact on plant growth, ecosystem conservation, and peatland
management.
When considering new peatland management systems in tropical peatlands,
called “Eco-management in a Large-scale Ecosystem of Tropical Peatland,” the
following three factors cannot be ignored.
• Water Cycle and Water Reservoir,
• Carbon Cycle and Carbon Reservoir, and
• Nutrient Cycle and Nutrient Reservoir.
The tropical peatlands store vast amounts of water and carbon, while they are
extremely poor in nutrients. Under the conditions of these unique characteristics,
peat swamp forests have been maintained. However, exploitation for agriculture and
forestry has led to massive drainage of tropical peatlands, resulting in the release of
carbon as CO 2 emissions. Meanwhile, the poor nutrient status of these peatlands has
led to the intensive application of fertilizer to cultivate plants. It is already clear that
these activities lead to the destruction of peatlands. The preservation of the close
relationship and functions of water, carbon, and nutrients is essential for the maintenance and restoration of tropical peat ecosystems. To maintain or sustainably use
tropical peatlands, water management systems need to be fundamentally rethought.
A key element of the tropical peatland ecosystem is the water statute. The water
management system is clarified as Stock-based Water Management (WM) [irrigation
T. Kato (*) · S. Silsigia
PT. Wana Subur Lestari, and PT. Mayangkara Tanaman Industri, Jakarta, Indonesia
e-mail: tk@wanasl.com; sisva@wanasl.com
M. Osaki
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
e-mail: mosaki@chem.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
N. Tsuji
Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, University of Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Osaki et al. (eds.), Tropical Peatland Eco-management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4654-3_2
63
Principles of Eco-Management
in a Large-Scale Ecosystem of Tropical
Peatland
Tsuyoshi Kato, Mitsuru Osaki, Nobuyuki Tsuji, and Sisva Silsigia
Abstract In dome-shaped tropical peatlands, mainly on the maritime continent of
Southeast Asia, rainfall provides the only water supply and no nutrients, which has a
very strong impact on plant growth, ecosystem conservation, and peatland
management.
When considering new peatland management systems in tropical peatlands,
called “Eco-management in a Large-scale Ecosystem of Tropical Peatland,” the
following three factors cannot be ignored.
• Water Cycle and Water Reservoir,
• Carbon Cycle and Carbon Reservoir, and
• Nutrient Cycle and Nutrient Reservoir.
The tropical peatlands store vast amounts of water and carbon, while they are
extremely poor in nutrients. Under the conditions of these unique characteristics,
peat swamp forests have been maintained. However, exploitation for agriculture and
forestry has led to massive drainage of tropical peatlands, resulting in the release of
carbon as CO 2 emissions. Meanwhile, the poor nutrient status of these peatlands has
led to the intensive application of fertilizer to cultivate plants. It is already clear that
these activities lead to the destruction of peatlands. The preservation of the close
relationship and functions of water, carbon, and nutrients is essential for the maintenance and restoration of tropical peat ecosystems. To maintain or sustainably use
tropical peatlands, water management systems need to be fundamentally rethought.
A key element of the tropical peatland ecosystem is the water statute. The water
management system is clarified as Stock-based Water Management (WM) [irrigation
T. Kato (*) · S. Silsigia
PT. Wana Subur Lestari, and PT. Mayangkara Tanaman Industri, Jakarta, Indonesia
e-mail: tk@wanasl.com; sisva@wanasl.com
M. Osaki
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
e-mail: mosaki@chem.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
N. Tsuji
Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, University of Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Osaki et al. (eds.), Tropical Peatland Eco-management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4654-3_2
63