Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

This research will provide new insights on the spatial and temporal variations in vegetation ecosystem connectivity that may enhance and reduce wildfires across western Canadian forests and peatlands using novel Earth observation and geospatial data within the context of environmental change. Fires are burning larger areas more frequently and with greater intensity (or energy), sometimes with unpredictable outcomes. How vegetation structures become interconnected to move fire across the land within changing ecosystems is not well known, especially in the context of multiple cumulative factors. The objectives of this program are to: 1. Quantify environmental drivers of ecological shifts in fire connectivity across spatial and temporal scales; 2. Identify factors that result in beneficial fires; 3. Determine if relationships exist between historic fire regime, current fuel connectivity and the effects of fire. Three (of five) northern sites included in this research program are in NWT and Saskatchewan and involve Indigenous land management practices. These communities also provide important knowledge and considerations of historic ecological changes and how these have impacted land and resources use. As such, Indigenous land managers and knowledge holders will be involved in the refinement of program objectives related to these sites and the respectful sharing of information between those involved in the program and community members based on existing and developing relationships. This program will enable students at undergraduate through graduate levels to develop innovative methods for identifying and modelling fuels and vegetation-environmental interactions across space and through time. New methods for understanding of fire hazards will also be developed using big geospatial data, novel Earth observation technologies and tools, and field data collection. In collaboration with Indigenous communities, the results of this research will be used to provide outreach and recommendations on ecosystem management to lessen the impacts of fire and to improve the resilience of ecosystems and communities to climate-mediated changes across Canada and within communities experiencing some of the greatest climatological changes on Earth.