RAPID: Immediate Post-Fire Carbon Balance of Boreal Peat-Wetland Mosaics

Woodwell Climate Research Center, Inc., Falmouth MA

Investigators

Abstract

Due to climate warming, perennially frozen soil, or permafrost, is thawing in tundra and boreal environments. Fires are also becoming more frequent and intense in a warmer world, affecting how these landscapes exchange greenhouse gasses with the atmosphere. While previous studies have been conducted after fire, this study will provide an understanding of ecosystem function, both before and after fire at the same site. The study will take place at a greenhouse gas measuring site in a boreal forest peatland underlain by permafrost and adjacent wetlands in the Northwest Territories, Canada, that burned in October 2022. The site has a 9- year data record of carbon dioxide, methane, and water exchange between the land and the atmosphere. The study will involve a close working relationship with the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation, who run the research site. The co-impacts of permafrost thaw and fire in boreal ecosystems is poorly understood. With fires becoming more common and severe in high-latitude ecosystems, understanding the joint response of fire and permafrost thaw is vital to understanding the land-atmosphere exchange of carbon. A carbon flux monitoring site in the Northwest Territories, Canada, was burned in October 2022, presenting a rare opportunity to study pre- and post-fire fluxes over the same landscape. The investigators will rebuild the carbon flux monitoring tower to measure the land-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide and methane, and a suite of environmental measurements to understand what drives fluxes before and after fire. The investigators will collaborate with the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation, who run the research site, and the collaboration will foster a strong knowledge exchange between the scientists and the First Nations peoples. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.