Grant: Alliance Grants

This research will provide new insights on anthropogenic GHG emissions by evaluating the impacts of wildfire on managed peatland carbon stocks and GHG fluxes. Although Canada currently estimates anthropogenic emissions in peatlands drained for peat extraction, the IPCC additionally provides guidance on estimating emissions factors from wildfires on drained organic soils. Carbon losses from peat and vegetation combustion may shift the carbon balance of managed peatlands for decades to centuries, yet, these emissions are poorly parameterised and the post-fire GHG balance has not been characterized in managed peatlands in Canada. Objectives: 1) Quantify managed peatland emissions during wildfire: through a novel, multi-scale approach, field observations will be integrated with multi-sensor remotely sensed data to quantify above (vegetation) and below-ground (peat) biomass losses from wildfire combustion in managed (drained, harvested, abandoned) peatlands. 2) Quantify managed peatland emissions following wildfire: there is a dearth of information regarding the direction and magnitude of peatland GHG fluxes following wildfire which may exacerbate emissions. Post-fire vegetation recovery will be assessed alongside plot-level GHG fluxes and characterized over time. 3) Develop fuel and moisture indicators for fire risk in managed peatlands: time-series above- and below-ground moisture observations and remotely sensed data will be used to develop critical fuel and moisture thresholds to inform the risk of, and aid mitigation of, future wildfire and GHG emissions. We will establish the Peatland Fire Emissions Network - a group of academic, government, and not-for-profit experts on peatlands and wildfire, to improve accounting and inform mitigation of managed peatland GHG emissions from fire in Canada. ECCC will provide guidance on creating models of emissions for informing current and future GHG accounting efforts and for integration with their existing GHG models (e.g. CaMP). CFS will provide guidance on measurement of vegetation metrics useful for the National Forest Inventory, and ensure tools are aligned with the needs of fire practitioners.