Measurements of actual greenhouse gases (GHG) like CO 2, CH 4 and N 2O emissions from tropical peatlands in Malaysia are needed to understand the role of peatlands as carbon sequesters (sink) or source when establishing oil palm plantations on tropical peatland. Long-term eddy covariance (EC) measurements, together with carefully focused ecological measurements of meteorological and flux data, can potentially identify the relevant climatic factors and partition of the net GHG flux from the whole ecosystem into contributions from the various major components, and quantify the effects of climatic variations on seasonal and annual net uptake of CO 2. Direct measurements of CO 2 flux using the EC method involving air temperature, precipitation, windspeed, vapour pressure deficit (VPD), net radiation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) fluxes, sensible heat flux, latent heat and net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE), can define the magnitude of net CO 2 fluxes and net ecosystem production on time scales ranging from hourly to seasonal, annual and inter-annual, for comparing intact and converted forest ecosystems into oil palm plantations. These observations are capable of elucidating the relationships between net CO 2 sequestration and underlying environmental and ecosystem parameters, on time scales long enough to be highly relevant to climate issues. Therefore, the flux measurements provide unique fundamental mechanistic, process and environmental data for evaluating ecosystem models, and for assessing the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon balance. A sequence of actions are needed for a successful EC experimental set-up, data collection and processing, such as design of the experiment, implementation and data processing. A multi-disciplinary, fully integrated and focused study team is needed for each site in order to obtain the full suite of observations, and to acquire an understanding of the underlying processes through the correct data collection, processing and interpretation. Some problems are anticipated during installation of an EC system on peatland, such as peat subsidence, varying peat depths and low bulk density as a result of the existence of a water table. The tower design should not obstruct air flow and affect the instruments' sensors. The tower should be suitably placed at the study site so that the useful footprint from all winds is maximised. Instruments should be placed at a maximum height that still allows for a useful footprint. The maintenance plan should include periodic sensor cleaning and replacement, a calibration schedule, planned replacement of damaged cables and other repairs to the instrument system. Direct measurements of GHG such as CO 2, CH 4 and N 2O fluxes from tropical peatlands in Malaysia can be done using the EC method, which must be supported by the chamber method to measure the influence of soil respiration on GHG emission and uptake rate from peatland converted to oil palm plantation. A suitable tower design with a strong tower foundation support can minimise damage to the study site. Together with a strict maintenance programme implemented during the duration of the study can ensure the successful collection of good data.
