Estimating Boreal Peatland C Storage and Emissions from Extreme Wildfire
Laura Louise Bourgeau-Chavez, Michigan Technological University, lchavez@mtu.edu
Dorthea J.L. Vander Bilt, Michigan Tech Research Institute, djleisma@mtu.edu
Michael Billmire, Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI), mgbillmi@mtu.edu
Nancy HF French, Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI), nhfrench@mtu.edu (Presenter)
Peatlands represent a belowground carbon pool that occurs on merely 3-5% of the land surface, but represents the largest C store of the terrestrial biosphere. The largest peatland C pools are in the boreal region which cover 25-30% of the boreal forest landscape. Peatlands represent a C storage and sequestration pool that can most readily be conserved and restored as a strategy to help mitigate climate change. The United Nations is currently conducting a Global Peatland Assessment towards the goal of increasing awareness of the world’s peatlands for sustained conservation and restoration. The characterization, quantification and understanding of peatlands in global C cycling is critical for proper accounting given that peatlands play a significant role in sequestering and releasing large amounts of carbon. Critical to any peatland assessment is development of accurate maps of the geospatial location of various peatland typologies coupled with accurate field data to quantify peat depth and to estimate C stores. Using a combination of optical and microwave sensors from multiple seasons within a given subregion allows for the characterization of peatland typologies. Such an approach was used to produce high accuracy peatland maps in the Northwest Territories Canada (NWT) study area that were used in conjunction with in situ soil C measures to provide improved accounting of C-storage estimates from broad peatland complexes of the Taiga plains and small peatlands of the rocky Canadian Shield. In the region of southern NWT where peatlands cover more than 75% of the landscape, extreme drought in 2014-15 resulted in more than 3.4 M ha of wildfire. Research was conducted to understand the effects of these widespread wildfires on peatlands in comparison to uplands that traverse the taiga shield and taiga plain ecozones and gradients of severity of burn and seasons of fire. We parameterized the CanFIRE fire effects and emissions model for peatlands and applied the model to the largest fires of NWT. Results show that more C is emitted from peatlands than uplands during these extreme fire years. Climate induced changes to wildfire regimes is one of the largest threats to peatland ecosystem function and continued C sequestration.
Associated Project(s):
Poster Location ID: 3-10
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Poster Session 3
Session Date: Thu (May 11) 3:00-5:00 PM
CCE Program: TE