Abstract Peatlands play a critical role in the global carbon (C)‐climate cycle, acting as vast long‐term stores of disproportionately large quantities of C relative to their land area. In recent decades, climate‐driven shifts in fire regimes and peatland hydrophysical properties have occurred across Canada's boreal regions, increasing concerns about the vulnerability of peatland C to combustion losses. Understanding the magnitude and vulnerability of C lost during wildland fires in peatlands is therefore essential but remains highly uncertain. This study was conducted in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta's Boreal Plains. C losses from peatlands during the 2016 Horse River Wildfire were estimated based on field‐collected soil C data and pre‐ and post‐fire airborne LiDAR data. C Losses were quantified across peatland types and ecotones and separated into above‐ and below‐ground combustion. Soil C losses were nearly an order of magnitude greater than vegetation C losses (2.11 ± 5.09 kg C m −2 vs. 0.38 ± 0.32 kg C m −2 , respectively). Bog ecotones were zones of significant soil C loss, with average losses of 16.5 kg C m −2 . LiDAR‐derived burned area and C losses were compared with the spectral burn severity index, dNBR. A binary burned/unburned classification showed strong agreement in bogs (88%) but poor agreement in swamps (48%). Vegetation C loss correlated moderately well with dNBR strength, whereas the relationship between soil C loss and dNBR was very weak. Comparisons between LiDAR‐derived soil C losses with estimates of C loss based on the fire disturbance module of the national C loss model, the Canadian Model for Peatlands (CaMP), indicated that C losses from bogs were greater than expected, particularly when ecotones were included, while fens and swamp C losses were on the low end of model expectations.
Nelson et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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