Tropical Peatland Water Balance under Land Cover Change in Padang Island, Indonesia

Changes in hydrological regime associated with land cover change may result in crucial implications to tropical peatland landscape since hydrology strongly controls peatland geomorphology, ecology, and biogeochemical cycle. Therefore, improved understanding of the land cover change impacts to the water balance is of significant importance in order to formulate responsible peatland management strategies. In this study, we investigated the water balance under historical land cover change within Padang Island, Indonesia, an ombrotropic tropical peatland landscape with heterogeneous land covers. For this purpose, we established a model setup using a coupled MIKE SHE and MIKE Hydro River. The model was calibrated and validated against comprehensive data set from field measurements. Land cover change impacts were evaluated by comparing the water balance under current and past condition. The past land cover distribution was derived from historical satellite imagery analysis covering the period of 25 years before the current condition. Meanwhile, the past topography data was generated following long-term subsidence monitoring data. Here, we will present the impacts of land cover change to water balance at the landscape level and their implications for management of tropical peatlands.