Spatial and temporal variability of soil N O and CH fluxes along a degradation gradient in a palm swamp peat forest in the Peruvian Amazon.

Mauritia flexuosa palm swamp, the prevailing Peruvian Amazon peatland ecosystem, is extensively threatened by degradation. The unsustainable practice of cutting whole palms for fruit extraction modifies forest's structure and composition and eventually alters peat-derived greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We evaluated the spatiotemporal variability of soil N O and CH fluxes and environmental controls along a palm swamp degradation gradient formed by one undegraded site (Intact), one moderately degraded site (mDeg) and one heavily degraded site (hDeg).