Wildfire smoke may trigger major adverse changes in global ecosystems, affecting the planet’s life support systems. However, while fire has been identified as an important global change driver, and the impacts of wildfire smoke on public health are increasingly documented, the ecological impacts of this haze have been hitherto largely neglected. Here, we help address this imbalance by outlining the multiple direct, indirect and cascading effects of wildfire smoke on organisms and ecosystems. These range from immediate adverse health impacts on air-breathing animals to long-term changes in carbon budgets of forests, and substantial changes in phytoplankton communities and coral mortality. As human health and natural systems are linked, such ecological changes are ultimately expected to have detrimental impacts on local public health, economy and wellbeing. We thus consider wildfire smoke to be a driver of global change, with the current limited literature likely capturing only a small fraction of the myriad impacts from wildfire smoke pollution. We therefore urge further research on this topic, plus actions to effectively steward fire regimes and enhance ecosystem resilience to help mitigate this threat.

Changes to natural fire regimes mean that wildfire is now considered a major threat to biodiversity. Meanwhile, our knowledge of the indirect ecological impacts of wildfires through smoke exposure remains limited, particularly for the highly diverse tropics. We help address this knowledge limitation by compiling information on the impacts of fire and haze on primates through a questionnaire distributed to primate researchers, supplemented by a semi-systematic literature review. Combined, these datasets collected covered 164 primate species across 45 countries, with > 93% of sites representing wild populations. Similar patterns were observed across both the questionnaire and literature review methods, though with increased fire/haze incidence and impacts indicated in the literature review dataset. Fire and/or haze was indicated as occurring at 78-97% of all, and 90-100% of unprotected, sites. While some positive or mixed impacts were reported, negative impacts were indicated far more often. Habitat- and food-related effects were most regularly indicated, with impacts on behaviour, health and direct mortality also reported. Impacts were more commonly reported as increasing or stable, rather than decreasing. Impacts varied among habitat types, appearing severest in subtropical-tropical swamp forest, which are not naturally fire-prone. While various biases mean that our findings should not be considered comprehensive, these data nevertheless indicate widespread and potentially increasing, predominantly negative impacts of fire and haze on primates. These negative impacts indicate an important need for enhanced fire mitigation efforts, and for increased research to better understand fire/haze incidence and impacts across (primate) habitats.

Tropical peatlands storing similar to 18-25 % of global peat volume contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle. To balance preservation and protection of tropical peatlands requires assessment of their ecohydrological conditions and continuous monitoring through seasons. This is challenging to achieve using in situ sampling, but there is a great promise to use C-band Sentinel-1 data for this due to its weather-independence, and particularly its increased acquisition capacity and spatial/temporal resolution compared to L-and P-band current sensors. Acknowledging that Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) Interferometry using C-Band Sentinel-1 data has been shown previously to be useful for retrieving peatland surface displacement, but also that the amplitude and phase of the SAR signal are dependent on surface hydrology; there remains a critical question about the extent to which the efficacy of SBAS approaches is themselves sensitive to surface hydrological conditions. This is a particular methodological concern in tropical peatlands due to the dynamically changing hydrological conditions arising from significant rainfall events, which can cause groundwater level (GWL) to vary from 1 m to -2 m. The research area was situated in lowland Central Kalimantan (Indonesia) using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations from the 2017-2022 period. We used SBAS-derived ground displacements and compared to groundwater level (GWL) and peat surface elevation acquired from local networks of monitoring sites. Our work shows that the prevailing hydrological condition affects the area efficacy of the SBAS approach using C-band SAR data. When surface water significantly floods above the ground surface during the wet season, the coherence is not sustained for a long time. This is the opposite of the dry season, when coherence is preserved in longer intervals between acquisitions. Additionally, the range of correlation values between SBAS-derived displacements and in-situ peat surface and ground water table measurements is higher for the dry season than for the wet and whole hydrological year. We show that the SBAS approach can retrieve surface displacement for 34.4 % to 59.8 % on the peat soils of the tested area (391 to 826 km2), excluding areas of dense forests and open water, due to C-band SAR limitations, i.e. volume scattering mechanism and/or loss of signal coherence on water bodies. We show that appropriate hydrological conditions must be met to determine the change in water level above the ground surface. Too large fluctuations in water level may not be detected because of wavelength limitations, and outliers from the assumed linear model may be filtered out or removed due to the specific properties of this approach. These findings underpin the application of Sentinel-1C-band SAR for monitoring tropical peatlands' ecohydrological conditions.

Heath forests, or known locally as kerangas, in Indonesia and Malaysia form a distinct and understudied ecoregion. We document the distribution and ecological significance of the largest extent of kerangas in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. We mapped 16,586 km 2 of kerangas to the nearest one square kilometre across Kalimantan, showing a significant reduction from previous estimates. About 19% of this area exists as a poorly documented mosaic landscape in Central Kalimantan’s Rungan-Kahayan region. Here, peat-based forests transition to heath and dipterocarp forests, making it difficult to reliably classify these forests for conservation planning. Using remote sensing and tree plot data, we identified three forest types—kerangas, low pole, and mixed swamp. Vegetation structure is influenced by soil, topography, and hydrology, while peat depth and elevation affect species diversity. Our findings indicate that these forests are dynamic ecosystems with diverse vegetation communities adapted to peat as well as sandy soils. Lowland heath forests in Rungan-Kahayan exhibits higher tree densities compared to other Bornean heath forests, reflecting unique ecological adaptations to challenging environments. Despite covering just 3% of Kalimantan’s forest area, these ecosystems remain largely unprotected, facing threats from land conversion and fire. Our study highlights the ecological complexity of kerangas and underscores the urgent need for targeted conservation and further research on these forests.

Proximity to natural habitat is known to enhance pollination services in large-scale agriculture, but it remains unclear whether this holds in tropical smallholder farms. These systems are embedded in ecologically complex landscapes, central to global food security, and depend heavily on biodiversity-derived ecosystem services. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 35 studies assessing the relationship between distance to natural habitat and pollinator abundance, species richness, and crop fruit set in tropical smallholder farms. We found no consistent patterns in pollinator abundance and crop fruit set with increasing distance, with relationships highly variable across studies. Similarly variable, yet slightly negative, was the relationship between distance and pollinator species richness. Our findings suggest limited support for the 'proximity to natural habitat' hypothesis in tropical smallholder farms, indicating that the inherent complexity of these landscapes may buffer negative effects of distance on pollination. This underscores the importance of maintaining and restoring landscape complexity to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services such as crop pollination. We also highlight the need for greater methodological consistency and publicly available raw data in future studies to strengthen the evidence base and support management strategies for safeguarding pollination services in tropical smallholder farms.

Aim: We test the hypothesis that wind dispersal is more common among emergent tree species given that being tall increases the likelihood of effective seed dispersal. Location: Americas, Africa and the Asia-Pacific. Time period: 1970-2020. Major taxa studied: Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. Methods: We used a dataset consisting of tree inventories from 2821 plots across three biogeographic regions (Americas, Africa and Asia- Pacific), including dry and wet forests, to determine the maximum height and dispersal strategy of 5314 tree species. A web search was used to determine whether species were wind-dispersed. We compared differences in tree species maximum height between biogeographic regions and examined the relationship between species maximum height and wind dispersal using logistic regression. We also tested whether emergent tree species, that is species with at least one individual taller than the 95% height percentile in one or more plots, were disproportionally wind dispersed in dry and wet forests within each biogeographic region. Results: Our dataset provides maximum height values for 5314 tree species, of which more than half (2914) had no record of this trait in existing global databases. We found that, on average, tree species in the Americas have lower maximum heights compared to those in Africa and the Asia Pacific. The probability of wind dispersal increased significantly with tree species maximum height and was significantly higher among emergent than non-emergent tree species in both dry and wet forests in all three biogeographic regions. Main conclusion: Wind dispersal is more prevalent in tall, emergent tree species than in non-emergent species and may thus be an important factor in the evolution of tree species maximum height. By providing the most comprehensive dataset so far of tree species maximum height and wind dispersal strategies, this study paves the way for advancing our understanding of the eco-evolutionary drivers of tree size.

Uncontrolled fires place considerable burdens on forest ecosystems, compromising our ability to meet conservation and restoration goals. A poor understanding of the impacts of fire on ecosystems and their biodiversity exacerbates this challenge, particularly in tropical regions where few studies have applied consistent analytical techniques to examine a broad range of ecological impacts over multiyear time frames. We compiled 16 y of data on ecosystem properties (17 variables) and biodiversity (21 variables) from a tropical peatland in Indonesia to assess fire impacts and infer the potential for recovery. Burned forest experienced altered structural and microclimatic conditions, resulting in a proliferation of nonforest vegetation and erosion of forest ecosystem properties and biodiversity. Compared to unburned forest, habitat structure, tree density, and canopy cover deteriorated by 58 to 98%, while declines in species diversity and abundance were most pronounced for trees, damselflies, and butterflies, particularly for forest specialist species. Tracking ecosystem property and biodiversity datasets over time revealed most to be sensitive to recurrent high-intensity fires within the wider landscape. These megafires immediately compromised water quality and tree reproductive phenology, crashing commercially valuable fish populations within 3 mo and driving a gradual decline in threatened vertebrates over 9 mo. Burned forest remained structurally compromised long after a burn event, but vegetation showed some signs of recovery over a 12-y period. Our findings demonstrate that, if left uncontrolled, fire may be a pervasive threat to the ecological functioning of tropical forests, underscoring the importance of fire prevention and long-term restoration efforts, as exemplified in Indonesia.

Fire events in tropical peatlands often relate to dry peat conditions associated with climate variability (drought) and anthropogenic-driven ecosystem degradation. However, drought is not the only driver of long-term fire events and peatland ecosystem changes. This study used palaeoecological and geochemical proxies to investigate the long-term drivers in fire severity (FS) and the associated responses of the peatland ecosystems in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The results showed FS has increased from ~2300 cal. yr BP to present, and possible drivers include changes in sea level, increased frequency of El Niño events, increased biomass, and anthropogenically-driven ecosystem degradation. In response, the vegetation composition changed from a mix of peat swamp forest (PSF) and open vegetation (OV) during the late Holocene (2284 to 1129 cal. yr BP), to predominantly PSF from 1128 to 375 cal. yr BP, dry lowland mixed with swamp forest (LMS) and open vegetation (OV) from 374 to 135 cal. yr BP, and predominantly OV and freshwater swamp forest (FSF) from 134 to -62 cal. yr BP. The possible drivers of the vegetation turnover were hydrological conditions and the availability of peat nutrients, while the responses of vegetation turnover affected the accumulation and decomposition of recalcitrant organic matter in peat. The resilience of the peatland ecosystems over longer-term timeframes provided the following restoration insights: 1) PSF species (i.e. Eurya and Ilex) were resilient to high FS (charcoal influx in peat) tolerances of up to ~23 mm2cm-3yr-1 while LMS and OV species increased at lower FS threshold of ~13 mm2cm-3yr-1; 2) PSF species expanded during periods of wet conditions and high peat nutrients (i.e. TN- enriched); and 3) Future revegetation in the region can focus on tree taxa such as Euphorbiaceae, Apocynaceae plumeria, Arenga, Ficus, and Trema as they were historically able to thrive in high FS and dry hydrological conditions.

Assessing a taxon’s response to change in environmental variables is fundamental knowledge to understanding trends in species diversity, abundance, and distribution patterns. This is particularly needed on Borneo, where knowledge on Odonata populations in different habitats is poor. To address this gap, we present the first study investigating the relationship between morphology and species distribution of Odonata communities in a heath (kerangas)-dominated mixed-mosaic-lowland forest in southern Borneo. We sampled 250-m line transects in three habitat types: mixed peatcswamp, kerangas, and low-pole peatcswamp, with weekly surveys from December 2019 to February 2020. A total of 309 individuals were detected from 25 species. Anisoptera and Zygoptera diversity was the highest in mixed peatcswamp and lowest in low pole, while abundance was the highest in low pole and lowest in kerangas; with kerangas notably harboring a very small sample size. Odonata community assemblages differed most between mixed peat swamp and low pole. Morphological data were compared between suborders and habitats. Anisoptera showed significantly larger thoraces, hindwings, and hindwing-to-body ratio than Zygoptera. Anisoptera in low pole were significantly smaller in body, thorax, and hindwing compared to both kerangas and mixed peat swamp. Anisoptera showed a strong association with pools and Zygoptera with flowing water. Heterogeneity, habitat characteristics, presence of specialists, body size, and the interaction between species’ morphological traits and habitat characteristics likely explained the trends observed.

Destabilisation of hydrological conditions and associated fire occurrence are the most significant barriers hindering degraded tropical peatland revegetation. For this reason, the monitoring of fires and hydrological conditions is crucial for guiding drained tropical peatland restoration. One of the best tools for large-scale monitoring of the natural environment, especially when access and in situ information are limited, is satellite remote sensing, and fusion of active and passive remote sensing data can provide new insights into dynamic systems such as peatlands. There is usually a relationship between automation, complexity and processing time leading to variations in the method's effectiveness, including reliability and accuracy. The main goal of this work was to develop a rapid method for ease of use by non-specialist users, which has capability to deliver reliable results describing the mapping of the burnt and flooded areas. In this case, two types of data, from multi-spectral passive and microwave active remote sensing sensors, were combined to monitor fires and floods in a 5,000 km² area of tropical peatland of varying land use and level of degradation in Central Kalimantan. Both imaging techniques provide different information. The vegetation index of the differenced Normalised Burn Ratio (dNBR), calculated based on Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 data, delivers information for mapping burned areas. The backscattering coefficient from Sentinel-1 data can identify permanent and ephemeral water bodies. These methods were effective for detection of burnt areas and water bodies, but there were limitations of the passive sensors' image availability due to cloud cover. In addition, using dNBR and backscattering coefficient separately in some cases caused false positive results (e.g. burnt areas classified as water bodies, or burnt areas detected in the main river bed). The fusion of two data sources increased fire and flood mapping accuracy by eliminating misclassification errors, compared to using them separately, thus indicating their strong complementarity. This combined method allowed analysis of the history of fires and flooding in 2015-2022, and the relationship between these; preliminary results to be presented.

The majority of nonhuman primates are found in habitats impacted by humans. Therefore, conservation interventions in anthropogenic landscapes are critical for the long-term survival of primate populations. Due to their intelligence and socioecological flexibility, many primates exhibit behaviours deemed problematic such as crop feeding, property damage, and livestock depredation. Large-bodied primates may also pose a physical risk to people. In this chapter, we first revise the common criteria for selecting primate conservation priorities and consider them in the context of shared landscapes. We discuss the importance of inclusive conservation approaches and provide recommendations for addressing negative human-primate interactions based on existing information. Three case studies that illustrate conservation efforts in shared environments are presented: (1) the Bulindi Chimpanzee and Community Project in Uganda, (2) community conservation of orangutans and Javan slow lorises in Indonesia, and (3) inclusive conservation of golden lion tamarins in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The active participation of a diverse group of stakeholders, including local community groups, in all conservation stages is essential to fully understand the complexities of human-primate interactions in shared landscapes, address negative interactions, mitigate conservation conflicts, advocate for equity, and promote long-term human-primate coexistence.

Fire events in tropical peatlands often relate to dry peat conditions associated with climate variability (drought) and anthropogenic-driven ecosystem degradation. However, drought is not the only driver of long-term fire events and peatland ecosystem changes. This study used palaeoecological and geochemical proxies to investigate the long-term drivers of charcoal influx to identify local fires and examine the associated responses to the tropical peatland ecosystem in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The results showed local fire events increased after 756 cal. yr BP, and possible drivers of charcoal influx include changes in sea level, increased frequency of El Nin & SIM;o events, increased biomass, and anthropogenically-driven ecosystem degradation. However, the vegetation composition showed changes since-2300 cal. yr BP from a mix of peat swamp forest (PSF) and open vegetation (OV) during the late Holocene (-2300 to 1129 cal. yr BP), to predominantly PSF from 1128 to 375 cal. yr BP, dry lowland mixed with swamp forest (LMS) and open vegetation (OV) from 374 to 135 cal. yr BP, and predominantly OV and freshwater swamp forest (FSF) from 134 to-62 cal. yr BP. The possible drivers of the vegetation turnover were hydrological conditions and the availability of peat nutrients, while the vegetation turnover affected the accumulation and decomposition of recalcitrant organic matter in peat. The thresholds of the peatland ecosystems over longer-term timeframes provided the following restoration insights: 1) PSF species (i.e. Eurya and Ilex) showed high fire tolerance and increased in abundance up to charcoal influx threshold of-23 grains mm-2 cm 3 yr-1 while LMS and OV species increased up to a lower threshold of-13 grains mm-2 cm 3 yr-1before declining; 2) PSF species expanded during periods of wet conditions and high peat nutrients (i.e. TN enriched); and 3) Future revegetation in the region can focus on tree taxa such as Euphorbiaceae, Arenga, Ficus, and Trema as they were historically able to thrive in fire events and dry hydrological conditions.

Reforestation is promoted to address the dual global climate and biodiversity crises. This is particularly relevant for carbon‐rich, biodiverse tropical peatlands, for which active reforestation typically involves two post‐germination stages: nursery rearing of seedlings, then outplanting. Yet, linkages between these stages and cumulative seedling performance are rarely quantified during tropical peatland reforestation. By monitoring tree seedling survival and growth, we investigate factors influencing seedling performance (species identity, seedling source, treatments, and climate), whether nursery performance predicts outplanting performance, and calculate cumulative survival (nursery plus outplanting) in Sebangau National Park, Indonesian Borneo. Standardized survival at 2 years was higher in the nursery (mean 67% across 40 species) than outplanting (44% across 24 species). For nursery and outplanting, species identity was the main source of variation in survival and height growth. Seedling source, treatments, site condition, and precipitation had no significant impact on survival but did influence growth in some cases. Nursery survival did not predict outplanting survival, but nursery height did predict outplanting height. Across species, around a quarter of seedlings survived from nursery to outplanting over 4 years. Cumulative survival represents a more realistic basis for assessing the genetic and other resource costs of tropical peatland reforestation. Our two‐phase approach identified outplanting as the greater bottleneck to cumulative seedling survivability. We argue that the nursery stage may be used to harden seedlings for degraded peatland conditions by selecting more relevant treatments (e.g. flooding) and screening for resilience to common disturbances (e.g. fire) to enhance outplanted, and thus cumulative, seedling survival.

Degraded tropical peatlands lack tree cover and are often subject to seasonal flooding and repeated burning. These harsh environments for tree seedlings to survive and grow are therefore challenging to revegetate. Knowledge on species performance from previous plantings represents an important evidence base to help guide future tropical peat swamp forest (TPSF) restoration efforts. We conducted a systematic review of the survival and growth of tree species planted in degraded peatlands across Southeast Asia to examine (1) species differences, (2) the impact of seedling and site treatments on survival and growth and (3) the potential use of plant functional traits to predict seedling survival and growth rates. Planted seedling monitoring data were compiled through a systematic review of journal articles, conference proceedings, reports, theses and unpublished datasets. In total, 94 study-sites were included, spanning three decades from 1988 to 2019, and including 141 indigenous peatland tree and palm species. Accounting for variable planting numbers and monitoring durations, we analysed three measures of survival and growth: (1) final survival weighted by the number of seedlings planted, (2) half-life, that is, duration until 50% mortality and (3) relative growth rates (RGR) corrected for initial planting height of seedlings. Average final survival was 62% and half-life was 33 months across all species, sites and treatments. Species differed significantly in survival and half-life. Seedling and site treatments had small effects with the strongest being higher survival of mycorrhizal fungi inoculated seedlings; lower survival, half-life and RGR when shading seedlings; and lower RGR and higher survival when fertilising seedlings. Leaf nutrient and wood density traits predicted TPSF species survival, but not half-life and RGR. RGR and half-life were negatively correlated, meaning that slower growing species survived for longer. Synthesis and applications. To advance tropical peat swamp reforestation requires expanding the number and replication of species planted and testing treatments by adopting control vs. treatment experimental designs. Species selection should involve slower growing species (e.g. Lophopetalum rigidum, Alstonia spatulata, Madhuca motleyana) that survive for longer and explore screening species based on functional traits associated with nutrient acquisition, flooding tolerance and recovery from fire.

Fire modifies vegetation spectral reflectances in the optical, thermal and microwave domains due to the changes it induces in vegetation canopy components (leaves, needles, branches) and in soil properties. Freely available satellite-derived (Landsat) Vegetation Indices (VIs) and PALSAR Mosaic backscatter measurements (known to be sensitive to vegetation structure) were used to help understand vegetation properties (species richness, basal area) in relation to fire return time (FRT) across a range of tropical biomes (open savanna, savanna forest, evergreen forest, peat-swamp forest) in Mato Grosso (Brazil), Kruger National Park (South Africa) and Central Kalimantan (Indonesia). For each site, we combined: (i) post-fire Landsat imagery (30 m) to derive VIs sensitive to vegetation diversity with (ii) PALSAR (25 m) backscatter that employes a longer wavelength (21 cm) and dual polarisation (Horizontal-Horizontal, Horizontal-Vertical) enabling the capture of strong backscattering of signal by branches and trunks. Most of the Landsat VI values showed greater variability in forests compared to open savanna, reflecting the greater diversity in species’ composition and growth form. A strong positive relationship was found between VIs and FRT across biomes and especially in forests. The amount of vegetation burned per fire as recorded by the magnitude of changes in these VIs, was highest in annual burn regimes (FRT = 1 year). Green and red-edge bands provided better discrimination of vegetation species richness and basal area. A significant positive relationship to basal area in response to fire return time was also found using PALSAR data due to its deeper canopy penetration level and strong backscattering from woody components. The observed responses of VI- and PALSAR-inferred species’ richness and basal area in response to FRT in different tropical biomes suggest that the green and red-edge channels from optical and longer wavelength HV-backscatter are useful metrics to quantify post-fire tropical vegetation dynamics.

Agent-based models have been developed and widely employed to assess the impact of disturbances or conservation management on animal habitat use, population development, and viability. However, the direct impacts of canopy disturbance on the arboreal movement of individual primates have been less studied. Such impacts could shed light on the cascading effects of disturbances on animal health and fitness. Orangutans are an arboreal primate that commonly encounters habitat quality deterioration due to land-use changes and related disturbances such as forest fires. Forest disturbance may, therefore, create a complex stress scenario threatening orangutan populations. Due to forest disturbances, orangutans may adapt to employ more terrestrial, as opposed to arboreal, movements potentially prolonging the search for fruiting and nesting trees. In turn, this may lead to changes in daily activity patterns (i.e., time spent traveling, feeding, and resting) and available energy budget, potentially decreasing the orangutan's fitness. We developed the agent-based simulation model BORNEO (arBOReal aNimal movEment mOdel), which explicitly describes both orangutans' arboreal and terrestrial movement in a forest habitat, depending on distances between trees and canopy structures. Orangutans in the model perform activities with a motivation to balance energy intake and expenditure through locomotion. We tested the model using forest inventory data obtained in Sebangau National Park, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This allowed us to construct virtual forests with real characteristics including tree connectivity, thus creating the potential to expand the environmental settings for simulation experiments. In order to parameterize the energy related processes of the orangutans described in the model, we applied a computationally intensive evolutionary algorithm and evaluated the simulation results against observed behavioral patterns of orangutans. Both the simulated variability and proportion of activity budgets including feeding, resting, and traveling time for female and male orangutans confirmed the suitability of the model for its purpose. We used the calibrated model to compare the activity patterns and energy budgets of orangutans in both natural and disturbed forests . The results confirm field observations that orangutans in the disturbed forest are more likely to experience deficit energy balance due to traveling to the detriment of feeding time. Such imbalance is more pronounced in males than in females. The finding of a threshold of forest disturbances that affects a significant change in activity and energy budgets suggests potential threats to the orangutan population. Our study introduces the first agent-based model describing the arboreal movement of primates that can serve as a tool to investigate the direct impact of forest changes and disturbances on the behavior of species such as orangutans. Moreover, it demonstrates the suitability of high-performance computing to optimize the calibration of complex agent-based models describing animal behavior at a fine spatio-temporal scale (1-m and 1-s granularity).

Fire is considered a major threat to biodiversity in many habitats and the occurrence of fire has frequently been used to investigate the effectiveness of protected areas. Yet, despite the known importance of tropical peatlands for biodiversity conservation and serious threat that anthropogenically induced fires pose to this ecosystem, the influence of protected area designation on fire occurrence in tropical peatland has been poorly assessed thus far. Our study addresses this knowledge gap through providing a novel assessment of fire patterns from a tropical peatland protected area and surrounding landscape. We investigated the importance of both climatic factors (top-down mechanism) and human interventions (bottom-up mechanism) on fire occurrence through analyzing 20-years (2001–2020) of LANDSAT and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) images of the Padang Sugihan Wildlife Reserve and a 10-km buffer area surrounding this in Sumatra, Indonesia. Fire density was assessed in relation to road and canal construction. Monthly and annual precipitation was compared between wet and dry years. The reserve was effective in limiting fire compared to surrounding landscapes only in wet years. We revealed that peat fire occurrence in the protected area and buffer zone was not due to climatic factors alone, with distance from canals and roads also contributing toward fire occurrence. Our results suggest that it is essential to address tropical peatland fire processes at a landscape level, particularly at the surroundings of protected areas, in order to increase the effectiveness of fire protection, improve fire risk classification maps, and conserve threatened tropical peatland wildlife such as the Sumatran elephant.

Tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia (SEA) have undergone large-scale degradation in recent times due to extensive land use changes and drainage associated with their conversion for economic gains, and resulting fires during dry periods. This has had detrimental impacts on key peatland ecosystem processes and services such as hydrology, peat formation, carbon storage, fire prevention and biodiversity. Palaeoecological and geochemical proxies have been increasingly used in tropical peatland studies to extend contemporary instrumental records of peat conditions. Despite not yet being used to actively inform tropical peatland degradation and restoration interventions, these proxies are able to provide long-term trends in responses, resilience (threshold) and feedback processes of vegetation dynamics, groundwater level, peat pH, peat decomposition and accumulation rates, and degradation history. In this review, through the assessment of relevant tropical peatland studies in SEA, the palaeoecological and geochemical proxies were evaluated for their potential to reconstruct long-term peatland responses to climatically and anthropogenically-driven degradation. This information can potentially be utilised to provide better understanding of the extent of degradation and assist with the development of restoration management plans in SEA through its application in peat-hydrology restoration models.

This dataset is used to initialise BORNEO (arBOReal aNimal movEment mOdel), as a part of publication entitled: Assessing the impact of forest structure disturbances on the arboreal movement oforangutans - an agent-based modelling approach. The article manuscript is being prepared to be submitted to Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Data collection The data is collected in Sebangau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Two 1-ha plots were established, each in unburned and burned forest.