Paludiculture as a sustainable land use alternative for tropical peatlands: A review

Peatlands cover approximately 4.2 million km(2) of terrestrial land surface and store up to 700 Pg of terrestrial carbon. Preserving the carbon stocks in peatland is therefore crucial for climate change mitigation. Under natural conditions, peatland carbon storage is maintained by moist peat conditions, which decreases decomposition and encourages peat formation. However, conversion of peatlands to drainage-based agriculture in the form of industrial plantations and smallholder farming has resulted in globally significant greenhouse gas emissions. Paludiculture, loosely conceptualized as biomass production on wet peatlands with the potential to maintain carbon storage, is proposed as a sustainable, non-drainage-based agriculture alternative for peatland use. However, while the concept of paludiculture was developed in temperate ecoregions, its application in the tropics is poorly understood. In this review, we examine common definitions of paludiculture used in literature to derive key themes and future directions. We found three common themes: ecosystem services benefits of paludiculture, hydrological conditions of peatlands, and vegetation selection for planting. Ambiguities surrounding these themes have led to questions on whether paludiculture applications are sustainable in the context of carbon sequestration in peat soil. This review aims to evaluate and advance current understanding of paludiculture in the context of tropical peatlands, which is especially pertinent given expanding agriculture development into Central Africa and South America, where large reserves of peatlands were recently discovered. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This review examines the importance of carbon storage in peatlands for climate change mitigation and explores the concept of paludiculture as a sustainable alternative for peatland use. The application of paludiculture in tropical regions is less understood compared to temperate regions, and there are ambiguities surrounding its definitions, key themes, and future directions. Further research is needed to evaluate the sustainability of paludiculture practices in the context of carbon sequestration in peat soils.