RUI: Post-fire Carbon Balance in the Peatland Region of Boreal Western Canada

Villanova University, Villanova PA

Investigators

Abstract

Undisturbed peatland ecosystems are believed to represent a net sink for atmospheric carbon (C). This research focuses on C balance in western Canadian peatlands of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, a region where disturbances, especially fire, diminish the regional C sink strength. In addition to direct C losses via combustion, peatlands continue to release C after fire, as peat decomposition continues with greatly diminished post-fire net primary production of vegetation. The investigators will examine the effects of wildfire on the C balance of peatlands across western Canada. The research is structured around three questions: how do post-fire C fluxes vary spatially and temporally across western Canadian peatlands; to what extent is regional variation in post-fire C-balance recovery attributable to variation in post-fire plant successional pathways; and to what extent is regional variation in post-fire C-balance recovery attributable to variation in post-fire plant nutrient and moisture conditions in the burned peat substrate?