Open Collections

Zhang, Hehan (Zoe)

University of British Columbia

Peatlands are susceptible to peat fires which can lower water levels and cause vegetation changes that modify their ecohydrology and carbon storage capacity. Burns Bog is a restored peatland ecosystem located in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. Following the 2016 fire in the north-western section of the bog, there was an increase in the density of lodgepole pine seedlings. The increase in seedling density is expected to reduce the water level (WL) relative to the bog surface due to increased seedling transpiration, thereby increasing ecosystem respiration (Reco) and decreasing methane fluxes (F𝐜ʜ₄). This study examines the effects of post-fire management—specifically, seedling removal—on Reco and F𝐜ʜ₄ within the 2016 burned zone of Burns Bog. Employing the non-steady-state portable chamber - analyzer technique, Reco, F𝐜ʜ₄ and environmental variables were measured from April 2023 to March 2024 at six study sites. These sites encompassed three ecosystem types, each with a paired treatment comparison (with and without seedling removal). For all ecosystems, we observed that sites with seedlings removed typically had increased WL, lower Reco and higher F𝐜ʜ₄, compared to sites with seedlings left in place. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated significant effects of seedling removal on Reco, with no significant effects of ecosystem type, whereas both seedling removal and ecosystem type exhibited significant effects on F𝐜ʜ₄. This study suggests seedling removal as a targeted ecological restoration strategy can restore Reco and F𝐜ʜ₄ dynamics in peatlands, which has wider implications for peatland ecohydrology and climate regulation.

Text

2024-07-04

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88574

Geography

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/