Effect of canal blocking on biodiversity of degraded peatlands: Insight from West Kalimantan

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334014 October 8, 2025 3 / 23 thus boosting natural regeneration [45–49]. Therefore, it is necessary to further understand wildlife diversity in restored peatland areas to monitor the program’s impact on peatland biodiversity restoration. This paper will study the state of bio- diversity in rewetting sites in the Mempawah and Kubu Raya Landscapes, West Kalimantan. Comparing wildlife diversity across various rewetting sites can provide insights into how animal species respond to canal blocking, a method used to restore the hydrological condition of peatlands. Here, we aim to conduct biodiversity surveys in four different types of rewetting sites: less disturbed peat forest, disturbed peat forest, estate crop, and disturbed wet shrub. Our study integrated two types of wildlife surveys to optimize time and enhance our understanding of wildlife presence in rewetting sites in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Direct detection by humans via walking points and transects aimed to create a species presence list at each surveyed site. Additionally, we deployed automatic recording units (ARUs) to record soundscapes throughout the day and night (referred to as passive acoustic monitoring or PAM), providing a more com- prehensive view of wildlife activity. With this study, we also aimed to understand further biodiversity by assessing habitat features. In the end, we seek to explain the state of biodiversity in each rewetting areas and paralleling it with manage- ment implications. Materials and methods Study site

Our focus is on examining peatlands in West Kalimantan, Indonesia (Fig 1). We assess habitat features and biodiversity at two landscapes: Mempawah and Kubu Raya. Mempawah consists of three habitat types: disturbed peat forest, estate crop, and disturbed wet shrub, whereas our study site for less disturbed peat forest is located within a community forest reserve in Kubu Fig 1. Site map pointing survey location in landscape of West Kalimantan. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334014.g001