Following the successful inaugural session of research talks in Hydrology, we are pleased to announce the first Biogeosciences session for this Friday, June 19th, 2020 starting at 2 pm eastern time. The series will continue most Fridays this summer, with the next series of talks scheduled for Friday, June 26. A full schedule of the summer series will be shared soon. We invite you to follow the series on our Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn pages for the latest information.
To attend the research talks, please join via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83297752828?pwd=eE50V0xUQXNlYnRpanA3bkZsVnljdz09
Password: 938442
Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +14086380968,,83297752828#,,1#,938442# or +16468769923,,83297752828#,,1#,938442#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 408 638 0968 or +1 646 876 9923 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 346 248 7799
Webinar ID: 832 9775 2828
Password: 938442
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbyDlMhzff
You could also attend by watching our YouTube or Facebook live stream.
This week’s research talks include:
“Effects of Restoration Methods’ on Nutrient Dynamics on a Seismic Line in a Fen in Boreal Alberta”
Speaker: Taylor Vodopija
Affiliation: University of Waterloo (student talk)
Time: 2 pm – 2:15 pm EDT
Session: Disturbance impacts across boreal and subarctic wetlands and peatlands
Highlights: Seismic lines represent an enormous area of disturbed peatlands in Canada. There is no definitive method on how to restore peatland seismic lines and little research on post-restoration ecosystem function. The presentation will discuss new seismic line restoration treatments, and the impacts of these restoration treatments on nutrient bioavailability and mineralization in a fen directly after restoration.
“Environmental Drivers Influence Carbon Emissions from Vacuum Extracted Peatlands”
Speaker: Miranda Hunter
Affiliation: University of Waterloo (student talk)
Time: 2:20 pm – 2:35 pm EDT
Session: Disturbance impacts across boreal and subarctic wetlands and peatlands
Highlights: Carbon dioxide and methane emissions were measured at actively extracted peatlands in Alberta to understand the spatial distribution and environmental controls on these emissions. Soil temperature and soil moisture were identified as important drivers.
“Effect of wetlands typology and locations on their flood attenuation efficiency: implications for development of wetland restoration scenarios”
Speaker: Mohammad Bizhanimanzar
Affiliation: University of Sherbrooke
Time: 2:40 pm – 2:55 pm EDT
Session: Wetlands and Peatlands in a Changing Climate: Science and Management
Highlights: Identification of the optimum location (upstream vs. downstream) and typology (isolated vs. riparian) for restoration of wetlands for maximum flood reduction efficiency using a fine-scale hydrologic modelling approach.
The findings of these results help the watershed conservation authorities in their future land development strategies and wetland conservation plans.
“Northern Peatlands in Canada: An essential carbon service”
Speaker: Lorna Harris
Affiliation: University of Alberta
Time: 3 pm – 3:15 pm EDT
Session: Wetlands and Peatlands in a Changing Climate: Science and Management
Highlights: One quarter of the world’s peatlands are found in Canada. Covering over 1.1 million km2, Canada’s peatlands represent the world’s largest peatland carbon stock (~150 to 300 Gt). In intact and undisturbed peatlands, this stored carbon is an essential ecosystem service, or ‘carbon service’ that represents the avoided emission that would occur if the natural equilibrium of these ecosystems is altered by human disturbance. However, there are currently few policy safeguards to protect the critical carbon service provided by Canada’s peatlands. Here, we examine the ways that peatland carbon is quantified and reported on in Canada, and identify policy gaps and mechanisms to resolve these, to better inform carbon reporting and decisions on land-use and peatland protection in Canada.
“Peatland management in Canada: Knowledge gaps, opportunities and trade-offs between ecosystem services”
Speaker: Maria Strack
Affiliation: University of Waterloo
Time: 3:20 pm – 3:35 pm EDT
Session: Disturbance impacts across boreal and subarctic wetlands and peatlands
Highlights: Canadian peatlands could offer over 150 Mt CO2-e greenhouse gas emission savings by 2050, with most of these coming from avoided peatland disturbance. However, these numbers are uncertain due to a lack of standard national peatland maps and limited greenhouse gas flux data from many existing disturbance types. Results also illustrated potential trade-offs where restoration for habitat could lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades.
“Using machine learning to estimate global peatland extent”
Speaker: Joe Melton
Affiliation: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Time: 3:40 pm – 3:55 pm EDT
Session: Wetlands and Peatlands in a Changing Climate: Science and Management
Highlights: ECCC’s Canadian Land Surface Scheme including Biogeochemical Cycles (CLASSIC) has a peatland module, but no global map of peatland fractional cover exists. His presentation will cover preliminary results using machine learning techniques to derive a global map of peatland extent suitable for use by CLASSIC in the Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM). He will also briefly discuss the CLASSIC peatland module and the eddy covariance sites available as part of the model benchmarking suite.