Chapter 2 Tropical and Subtropical Peats : An Overview

Peats are frequent in cool temperate and boreal regions, but occur also in tropical and subtropical areas. While the distribution and characteristics of peats at higher latitudes have been well documented, peats at lower latitudes are less known. Unrecorded tropical peat reclamation efforts date back several centuries, as, for instance, the reclamation of coastal soils undertaken by the Dutch in the seventeenth century north of Colombo in Sri Lanka. However, it was not until the late 1890s when Koorders provided the first formal description of tropical peats from the forests of Sumatra (Andriesse 1988). Since this early reference, knowledge on tropical peatlands has made progress but by far not at the same pace as the knowledge on temperate and boreal peatlands. The lack of systematic surveys limits the scope of the updating reviews (Shier 1985). One of the most comprehensive documents on tropical and subtropical peats is from the late 1980s (Andriesse 1988). This chapter provides an overview of tropical and subtropical peats. After describing worldwide peat extent and distribution, the factors controlling peat formation and development, peat features and peat classification are analyzed. The chapter also addresses issues related with peats and peatlands as resources.