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

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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, 150-160 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.