NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Tags: physical sciences, active layer, revegetation, carbon budget, ecology, remote sensing, fire ecology, boreal forests, soil moisture, post-fire ecosystem

Objective(s): To improve understanding of the controls and impacts of a changing climate on the vulnerability and resiliency of boreal-taiga ecosystems to wildfire.

Project Description: The overall goal of the research is to improve understanding of the controls and impacts of a changing climate on the vulnerability and resiliency of boreal-taiga ecosystems to wildfire. This is being addressed through field sampling and process-based ecological and hydrological modeling of the 2014-2016 wildfires of southern NWT. To conduct the proposed research, the research team will address two main objectives: 1) to develop and refine algorithms for soil moisture retrieval from NWT boreal ecosystems using NASA's L-band airborne radar and develop a time series of products mapping pre and post-fire seasonal moisture at the field scale (5-30 m resolution); and 2) to use the field and remote sensing data products of the Phase 1 ABoVE (Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment) project and Objective 1 as the basis to calibrate and validate ecosystem, hydrology and fire effects models for lowlands (peatlands) and uplands to improve the understanding of the interactions of wildfire and hydrology on Carbon emissions, post-fire successional trends, and to conduct projections based on expected future climate scenarios. Field crews will navigate to pre-selected sample locations (100 x 100 m sites) that were previously established in 2014.. At each location the research team will collect: Soil moisture coincident to satellite and airborne radar collections (using handheld hydrosense probe); revegetation (regrowing species composition, percent cover of different species, counts of seedlings/sprouting individuals, etc.); active layer depth (depth to frozen ground - sampled with a thin probe); soil temperature (measured with a probe); photographs and GPS location; and, biophysical data (tree heights and diameters). All materials will be removed, as there are no permanent plots being established, and no long term instrumentation or infrastructure being left at any location. The research team rely on the GPS units to return to previously sampled locations. The research team plan to interact with local communities discussing the project goals, results and wildfire concerns of the communities. The team have participated in both the 2015 and 2019 Wildfire workshops held in Yellowknife in Jan 2015 and March 2019. The research team will continue to have one on one discussions with individuals and communities, providing one page informational sheets, and having interested individuals go into the field with the team. The team members have been attending workshops and working with local government and research groups to organize collaborative summer data collection to create a comprehensive understanding of these burned areas. Workshop/project partners include: The Government of the Northwest Territories, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Alberta and Canadian Forest Service. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 1, 2019 to September 3, 2019.