Peatland methane emissions: Improving process-based understanding to foster better management practices

泥炭地是湿地生态系统，在土壤中积累了一层厚厚的有机物质。它们覆盖了加拿大陆地面积的12%和北方地区的30%以上，代表了土壤碳的大量储存，仅加拿大泥炭地就有150160 Gt。这约占目前大气中所有碳的18%。但是，泥炭地也是全球重要的甲烷来源，甲烷是一种潜在的温室气体（GHG）。泥炭地的碳储存和温室气体交换正在被气候变化和土地利用所改变，但改进的管理策略可以帮助保护泥炭地的碳储存，允许使用这些生态系统作为自然气候解决方案，以帮助缓解气候变化。然而，理解的驱动程序泥炭地CH4排放在许多类型的干扰仍然有限。因此，我的研究计划的长期目标是提高泥炭地碳交换的驱动因素在一系列干扰制度的理解，以量化和管理泥炭地碳储存和温室气体交换。为了在未来五年内实现这一目标，我的研究计划的目标是：1）确定气候变化对沼泽CH4动态的影响，2）量化野火对泥炭地CH4排放的影响，3）调查恢复泥炭地CH4动态的生态控制和4）响应线性扰动泥炭地CH4排放模型。 为了解决提出的目标，我将使用基于现场的研究，生长室和实验室实验，以及数值模拟相结合，培养一名博士后，三名博士生，三名硕士生和四名本科生。该团队将在泥炭地类型（沼泽，沼泽和沼泽）的范围内开展工作，以提高对泥炭地CH4排放的驱动因素的理解，从微生物到生态系统规模。 这项研究计划的结果将提供更好的机械理解泥炭地甲烷排放量在各种干扰制度。这些知识可用于制定泥炭地管理决策，保留碳储存功能，同时最大限度地减少温室气体排放，从而为使用泥炭地作为自然气候解决方案创造最佳管理实践。因此，研究结果可以为国家气候减缓战略提供信息，也可以被工业界用来最大限度地抵消与恢复活动有关的温室气体。研究结果还可用于改进土地利用对泥炭地温室气体排放影响的估计，这是加拿大向联合国气候变化公约提交的国家清单报告所需的。最后，该计划将有助于培养下一代科学家，他们可以将这些管理实践应用于该领域，并通过与学术界，政府，工业界和非政府组织合作，评估其对生态系统功能的影响。

Peatlands are wetland ecosystems that have accumulated a thick layer of organic material in their soils. They cover 12% of Canada's land area and over 30% of the boreal region and represent a substantial stock of soil carbon, 150160 Gt in Canadian peatlands alone. This represents approximately 18% of all the carbon currently in the atmosphere. But, peatlands are also a globally significant source of CH4, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Peatland carbon storage and GHG exchange is being altered by climate change and land use, but improved management strategies could help protect peatland carbon stocks, allowing for the use of these ecosystems as natural climate solutions to help mitigate climate change. However, understanding of drivers of peatland CH4 emissions under many types of disturbance is still limited. Therefore, the long term objective of my research program is to improve understanding of drivers of peatland carbon exchange across a range of disturbance regimes in order to quantify and manage peatland carbon storage and GHG exchange. In order to address this goal over the next five years, the objectives of my research program are to: 1) determine climate change impacts on swamp CH4 dynamics, 2) quantify the effect of wildfire on peatland CH4 emissions, 3) investigate ecological controls on CH4 dynamics in restored peatlands and 4) model CH4 emissions in response to linear disturbance in peatlands. In order to address the proposed objectives, I will use a combination of field-based studies, growth chamber and laboratory experiments, and numerical modelling to train one post-doctoral fellow, three PhD students, three Masters students and four undergraduate students. The team will work across of range of peatland types (swamps, fens and bogs) to improve understanding of the drivers of peatland CH4 emission from the microbe to ecosystem-scale. Results from this research program will provide improved mechanistic understanding of peatland CH4 emissions under a variety of disturbance regimes. This knowledge can be used to make peatland management decisions that retain carbon storage function while minimizing GHG emissions, thus creating best management practices for using peatlands as natural climate solutions. Results can therefore inform national climate mitigation strategies, but also be used by industry to maximize GHG offsets related to restoration activities. Results can also be used to improve estimates of land-use impacts on peatland GHG emissions needed for reporting in Canada's National Inventory Report to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. Finally, the program will help to train the next generation of scientists that can apply these management practices in the field and evaluate their impact on ecosystem function by working with academics, government, industry, and non-governmental organizations.