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Peatlands play a critical role in global habitats since are composed of heterogeneous materials and chemical reactions.Peatland fires significantly change the chemical characteristics of its soil, such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content.This study aimed to measure peatland recovery only on those soil chemical characteristics based on two different times of sampling that are five years (Yr+5) and seven years (Yr+7) after the fires in 2015 (taken in 2020 and 2022).This study was conducted in the Balangan River -Batangalai River peat hydrological unit, South Kalimantan, Indonesia.Soil samples were collected at nine different locations, including are six locations in the areas that experienced fires in 2015 and three locations in the areas that did not experience fires.Those soil samples were taken with excavated pits at each sample location at each depth of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 cm.This study found that the carbon content in the post-fire area increased by 22.00% and in the natural area by 9.90%.The nitrogen content in the post-fire area increased by 1.94% and in the natural area by 1.17%.The potassium content in the post-fire areas increased by 16.33% and in the natural areas by 4.44%.The phosphorus content in the post-fire area increased by 3.18% and in the natural area by 5.11%.C/N ratio increased by 19.68% and C/P ratio increased by 18.24%.Overall, the increase in carbon, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, C/N ratio and C/P ratio in post-fire and natural peatlands indicates an improved condition.This study can provide supporting information for the regulator, management or expertise of the land and forest rehabilitation to speed up the recovery process.
Wahyono et al. (Fri,) studied this question.