RESEARCH - WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT

PROJECT	WILDPHIRE (Wildfire: Peatland Hydrology, Impacts, Resilience and Ecology)
FIELDWORK LOCATIONS	Pelican Mountain FireSmart Fuel Management Research Site        (Wabasca, Alberta) Nibi Observatory for Boreal Ecohydrological Landscapes (NOBEL) (Georgian Bay Biosphere Mnidoo Gamii, Ontario)
KEYWORDS	peat burn severity, wildland-human interface, ecosystem regime shifts,  ecological restoration, mitigation and adaptation, boreal water futures, energy-water-ecosystems nexus
MEDIA	"Up in Smoke: Human activities are fuelling wildfires that burn essential carbon-sequestering peatlands" - The Conversation "The bizarre, peaty science of arctic wildfires" - Wired "How to fight wildfires with wetlands" - The Conversation "Peat bogs turning into major fire hazards" - Globe and Mail "As peat bogs burn, a climate threat rises" - New York Times "Vast boreal peatlands may dry up" - CBC Quirks and Quarks "Canada's peatlands are tinderboxes..." - Globe and Mail "Boreal burning and the sphagnum super moss" - McMaster 3MT "Pelican mountain fuel management research project" - iClimate
OVERVIEW	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 hydrogeological 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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