Urgency: Quantifying fluvial carbon losses following the catastrophic 2009 peat swamp forest fires of Kalimantan, Borneo.

Tropical peatlands are extremely carbon rich ecosystems that are currently vulnerable to destabilisation through human and climate induced changes. They contain 50-70 Gt carbon (3% of all the carbon that is contained within Earth's soils) but rapid land use changes (deforestation, drainage) and consequent fire are rapidly releasing this. The dry season of 2009 (May-October) has already proved to be one of the most intense fire events since 1997. As of the 7th of October 2009, fires continue to burn. No data exist on fluvial carbon losses following such events. This project will build on data already collected during two previous typical rainy and dry seasons by collecting data on fluvial carbon immediately following the end of this dry season's fires. Samples will be collected and analysed using the latest technical advances to gain a full understanding of both the source (peat or vegetation) and quantity of carbon in water following intense fire.