RESEARCH

PEATLAND WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT

Project:      WILDPHIRE (Wildfire: Peatland Hydrology, Impacts, Resilience and Ecology)

Funding:    Boreal Water Futures
                    Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
                    NSERC CRD w/ Canadian Natural Resource Ltd and Syncrude

Fieldwork: Pelican Mountain FireSmart Fuel Management Research Project (Wabasca, AB)
                   Northern Ontario Barrens and Bog Ecosystems Landscape (NOBEL) (Georgian Bay, ON)
                   Utikuma Research Study Area (URSA) (Utikuma, AB)

Keywords:  peat burn severity, wildland-society issues, ecosystem regime shifts, greenhouse gases,
                    mitigation and adaptation, boreal water futures

Wildfire represents the largest single impact on boreal peatlands. We are examining the ecohydrological controls on wildfire ignition, behaviour and combustion in peatlands and are examining how ecohydrological function recovers following wildfire. We are examining how peat burn severity is impacted by groundwater connectivity at our Alberta sites by measuring the radiation, energy and water balance at several forested bogs located in different hydrogeolgical settings. Nearby hydrological measurements provide insight on how the water and energy cycles interact. We are determining the post-wildfire hydrological status of peatlands to examine the hydrological processes controlling Sphagnum moss recovery.  Through a series of peat fire ignition tests, moss hydrophysical properties measurements and the parameterization of our peat smouldering and ignition model, we are developing a new peat moisture code and models to predict peat depth of burn under land-use change and climate change scenarios.

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