Tropical peatlands are vital ecosystems that play an important role in global carbon storage and cycles. Current estimates of greenhouse gases from these peatlands are uncertain as emissions vary with environmental conditions. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of managed and natural tropical peatland GHG fluxes: heterotrophic (i.e. soil respiration without roots), total CO2 respiration rates, CH4 and N2O fluxes. The study documents studies that measure GHG fluxes from the soil (n = 372) from various land uses, groundwater levels and environmental conditions. We found that total soil respiration was larger in managed peat ecosystems (median = 52.3 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1) than in natural forest (median = 35.9 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1). Groundwater level had a stronger effect on soil CO2 emission than land use. Every 100 mm drop of groundwater level caused an increase of 5.1 and 3.7 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1 for plantation and cropping land use, respectively. Where groundwater is deep (≥0.5 m), heterotrophic respiration constituted 84% of the total emissions. N2O emissions were significantly larger at deeper groundwater levels, where every drop in 100 mm of groundwater level resulted in an exponential emission increase (exp(0.7) kg N ha−1 year−1). Deeper groundwater levels induced high N2O emissions, which constitute about 15% of total GHG emissions. CH4 emissions were large where groundwater is shallow; however, they were substantially smaller than other GHG emissions. When compared to temperate and boreal peatland soils, tropical peatlands had, on average, double the CO2 emissions. Surprisingly, the CO2 emission rates in tropical peatlands were in the same magnitude as tropical mineral soils. This comprehensive analysis provides a great understanding of the GHG dynamics within tropical peat soils that can be used as a guide for policymakers to create suitable programmes to manage the sustainability of peatlands effectively.

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The development of portable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with smartphone cloud-based chemometrics has increased the power of these devices to provide real-time in-situ crop nutrient analysis. This capability provides the opportunity to address nutrient deficiencies early to optimise yield. The agriculture sector currently relies on results delivered via laboratory analysis. This involves the collection and preparation of leaf or soil samples during the growing season that are time-consuming and costly. This delays farmers from addressing deficiencies by several weeks which impacts yield potential; hence, requires a faster solution. This study evaluated the feasibility of using NIRS in estimating different macro- and micronutrients in cotton leaf tissues, assessing the accuracy of a portable handheld NIR spectrometer (wavelength range of 1,350–2,500 nm). This study first evaluated the ability of NIRS to predict leaf nutrient levels using dried and ground cotton leaf samples. The results showed the high accuracy of NIRS in predicting essential macronutrients (0.76 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.98 for N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) and most micronutrients (0.64 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.81 for Fe, Mn, Cu, Mo, B, Cl and Na). The results showed that the handheld NIR spectrometer is a practical option to accurately measure leaf nutrient concentrations. This research then assessed the possibility of applying NIRS on fresh leaves for potential in-field applications. NIRS was more accurate in estimating cotton leaf nutrients when applied on dried and ground leaf samples. However, the application of NIRS on fresh leaves was still quite accurate. Using fresh leaves, the prediction accuracy was reduced by 19% for macronutrients and 11% for micronutrients, compared to dried and ground samples. This study provides further evidence on the efficacy of using NIRS for field estimations of cotton nutrients in combination with a nutrient decision support tool, with an accuracy of 87.3% for macronutrients and 86.6% for micronutrients. This application would allow farmers to manage nutrients proactively to avoid yield penalties or environmental impacts.