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

热带泥炭地是空间广阔的生物地球化学动态环境，在生物圈和大气之间的温室气体循环中起着关键作用。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，因为人们的注意力主要集中在陆生森林、热带稀树草原和季节性洪水环境的通量上。现存的为数不多的观测来自印度尼西亚和马来群岛，很少或根本没有来自亚马逊低地的数据。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，也难以预测这些环境的排放如何因气候强迫或人为干预而可能发生变化。我们建议对亚马逊泥炭地的甲烷和一氧化二氮通量进行一些初步试点测量，以便开始探索这些生态系统对区域和全球大气预算的重要性。我们还将探索微量气体通量与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为干扰的可能结果，并将对未来的建模工作有用。这项研究是重要和及时的，因为关于热带泥炭地对当前和未来气候变化的相对重要性的争论正在进行。像亚马逊流域这样的地区尤其需要这样的研究，因为发展和土地利用的快速变化可能会导致碳损失、温室气体排放和栖息地退化加剧，所有这些都可能对气候变化起到积极的反馈作用。

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.