Large Carbon Losses From Burned Permafrost Peatlands During Post‐Fire Succession

Abstract The carbon (C) storage of boreal peatlands is threatened by an intensifying wildfire regime. Between 2019 and 2023 we used eddy covariance and surface closed chambers to monitor two permafrost peatlands in boreal western Canada that burned in 2019 and 2007. Deeper thaw, warmer soils, and slow vegetation recovery caused the 2019 Burn to be a net carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) source (+130 g C m −2 yr −1 ) for four years post‐fire, despite reduced soil respiration. The 2007 Burn was a sink (−11 g C m −2 yr −1 ) 13–15 years post‐fire, similar to undisturbed peatlands. We estimate that wildfire caused a loss (∼2.9 kg C m −2 ) from permafrost peatlands, with ∼1.7 kg C m −2 due to combustion and ∼1.2 kg C m −2 due to net CO 2 losses during post‐fire succession. This highlights the importance of the post‐fire CO 2 losses and emphasizes the vulnerability of permafrost peatland soil C to fire.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Published
2025-10-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl118344
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.43
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article

Large Carbon Losses From Burned Permafrost Peatlands During Post‐Fire Succession

David Olefeldt, Lorna I. Harris, Craig A. Emmerton, Sara Knox et al.
2 citations
Geophysical Research Letters
Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
3.43
article

Large Carbon Losses From Burned Permafrost Peatlands During Post‐Fire Succession

David Olefeldt, Lorna I. Harris, Craig A. Emmerton, Sara Knox, Zoran Nesic, Christopher Schulze, Paul Moore, Rosie Howard, June Skeeter, Gabriel Hould Gosselin, Haley Alcock, Oliver Sonnentag, Kate Marouelli
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract The carbon (C) storage of boreal peatlands is threatened by an intensifying wildfire regime. Between 2019 and 2023 we used eddy covariance and surface closed chambers to monitor two permafrost peatlands in boreal western Canada that burned in 2019 and 2007. Deeper thaw, warmer soils, and slow vegetation recovery caused the 2019 Burn to be a net carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) source (+130 g C m −2 yr −1 ) for four years post‐fire, despite reduced soil respiration. The 2007 Burn was a sink (−11 g C m −2 yr −1 ) 13–15 years post‐fire, similar to undisturbed peatlands. We estimate that wildfire caused a loss (∼2.9 kg C m −2 ) from permafrost peatlands, with ∼1.7 kg C m −2 due to combustion and ∼1.2 kg C m −2 due to net CO 2 losses during post‐fire succession. This highlights the importance of the post‐fire CO 2 losses and emphasizes the vulnerability of permafrost peatland soil C to fire.

Geophysical Research LettersVol. 52(19)
Geological Survey of Canada (CA), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Alberta (CA), Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (CA), Government of Alberta (CA), Center for Northern Studies (CA), McGill University (CA), Université de Montréal (CA)
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
3.43
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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