News

Recent Can-Peat publication: Boreal peatlands across northwestern Canada with permafrost have accumulated vast amounts of carbon (C) over millennia despite regularly burning in natural wildfires. Ongoing climate change increases fire frequency and intensifies fire severity, possibly transforming the ecosystems of this vast region into long-term future C sources. Losses of C occur during wildfire but also in the years post-fire due to reduced uptake of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) by vegetation and through decomposition of exposed drier peat on the surface.

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Teaser blurb: The PeatRestore project aims to bring together peatland professionals from academic, government, and NGO spaces to collaborate on products that catalyze peatland restoration by co-developing practical and timely tools and guidance.

Canadian peatlands are one of Earth’s most important natural carbon sinks, covering more than 12% of Canada's land area and containing an estimated ~25% of the world's peatland carbon reservoir (Hugelius et al., 2020). These ecosystems are particularly dominant in the Hudson Bay Lowlands but also span large swaths of the arctic, sub-arctic, boreal plains and maritime Canada.

Human activities, like resource extraction, inevitably overlap with peatland areas. While only an estimated 2% of Canadian peatlands have been disturbed to date, ongoing human development will continue to impact new areas. These industrial activities disrupt the natural ability of peatlands to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) and store it as soil carbon. Depending on the disturbance type and how it changes the normal conditions present in that peatland, impacted areas may also release previously stored soil carbon as CO₂ or methane (CH₄). These changes to the usual greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange have significant global implications for climate regulation, so ecological restoration or reclamation is necessary for disturbed areas to regain their normal GHG functions.

Held at the Barrier Lake Institute in Kananaskis, the Can-Peat Symposium brought together researchers, students, and stakeholders from across Canada to exchange knowledge, showcase research, and strengthen partnerships in the peatland community. 

Peatlands are the most common type of wetlands, consisting of thick soil layers of partially decomposed organic matter. These ecosystems cover 13 per cent of Canada’s land area, which corresponds to 27 per cent of the world’s peatlands. They provide essential benefits like clean water and food, flood protection, and habitat for a myriad of unique species. Peatlands are also one of the planet’s most effective carbon storage systems, holding about 60 per cent of Canada’s organic soil carbon. More details about Canadian peatlands can be found in the NRCAN database.

Even in the quiet of winter, microorganisms are hard at work in peatlands, cycling nutrients such as carbon. As a result, during winter, peatlands tend to release carbon dioxide (CO₂) through microbial respiration because the plants that absorb CO₂ are dormant. In contrast, plants take in CO₂, via photosynthesis, during the growing season (GS). These seasonal dynamics generally balance out, with peatlands acting as net CO₂ sinks over the course of the year. In Canada, however, winter temperatures are rising faster than other seasons. Warmer winters result in shorter cold periods and longer GSs. While a longer GS may increase the amount of CO₂ peatlands absorb, the warmer conditions could also boost microbial activity, potentially offsetting the extra CO₂ absorbed by plants. This shift in seasonal dynamics could tip the balance and weaken the ability of peatlands to act as carbon sinks. Understanding these seasonal changes is crucial for predicting how peatlands will respond to a changing climate and provide insights into their potential role as nature-based solutions.