Amazonian peatlands: A potentially important but poorly characterised source of atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide

热带泥炭地是一个空间广阔、生态地球化学动态的环境，在生物圈和大气之间的温室气体循环中发挥着关键作用。然而，我们对这些生态系统的温室气体交换的地面测量相对较少，因为注意力主要集中在陆地森林，稀树草原和季节性洪水环境的通量上。仅有的几个观测数据来自印度尼西亚和马来群岛，而低地亚马逊地区的数据很少或根本没有。这使得很难准确评估亚马逊泥炭地对区域或全球温室气体预算的相对贡献，或预测这些环境的排放量可能因气候强迫或人为干预而发生的变化。我们建议进行一些亚马逊泥炭地甲烷和一氧化二氮通量的第一个试点测量，以开始探索这些生态系统的区域和全球大气预算的意义。我们还将探索痕量气体通量和关键生物物理驱动因素（如泥炭深度，地下水位深度，土壤湿度，温度等）之间的关系，这将有助于我们更好地了解甲烷和一氧化二氮通量如何受到生态过程和环境条件的影响。这些基于过程的数据将使我们能够预测未来环境变化或人类干扰的可能结果，并将有助于未来的建模工作。这项研究是重要和及时的，因为正在进行的辩论的相对重要性，热带泥炭地对当前和未来的气候变化。对于像亚马逊盆地这样的地区来说，进行此类研究的必要性尤其迫切，因为开发和土地使用的快速变化可能会引发碳损失增加，温室气体排放和栖息地退化，所有这些都可能对气候变化产生积极的反馈作用。

Tropical peatlands are spatially extensive and biogeochemically dynamic environments that play a critical role in the cycling of greenhouse gases between the biosphere and atmosphere. However, we have relatively few ground-based measurements of greenhouse gas exchange from these ecosystems, as attention has largely focussed on fluxes from terra firme forests, savannas and seasonally flooded environments. The few observations that do exist originate from Indonesia and the Malay Archipelago, with little or no data available from lowland Amazonia. This makes it difficult to accurately assess the relative contribution of Amazonian peatlands for regional or global greenhouse gas budgets, or to predict how emissions from these environments are likely to change due to climate forcing or anthropogenic intervention. We propose conducting some of the first pilot measurements of methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from Amazonian peatlands, in order to begin exploring the significance of these ecosystems for regional and global atmospheric budgets. We will also explore the relationships between trace gas fluxes and key biophysical drivers (e.g. peat depth, water table depth, soil moisture, temperature, etc.), which will help us to better understand how methane and nitrous oxide fluxes are influenced by ecological processes and environmental conditions. These process-based data will allow us to predict the likely outcome of future environmental change or human disturbance, and will be useful for future modelling efforts. This research is important and timely because of ongoing debates over the relative importance of tropical peatlands for current and future climate change. The need for studies like this are particularly acute for regions like the Amazon Basin, because of the rapid pace of development and land use change, which may trigger enhanced carbon losses, greenhouse gas emissions and habitat degradation, all of which may act as a positive feedback to climate change.