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The changing contribution of peatlands to burned area in Alberta's Boreal Plains.

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Title: The changing contribution of peatlands to burned area in Alberta's Boreal Plains.
Authors: Wilkinson, S.L.1 (AUTHOR) sophie_wilkinson@sfu.ca, Krieger-Pottruff, E.J.1 (AUTHOR), Clark, A.2 (AUTHOR), Wotton, B.M.3 (AUTHOR)
Source: Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 4/20/2026, Vol. 56, p1-10. 10p.
Subject Terms: *Peatlands, *Wildfires, *Climate change, *Plains, *Ecological impact, Area measurement
Geographic Terms: Canada, Alberta
Abstract: Fire regimes are changing globally in response to climate change, with burned area increasing across nearly all Canadian ecozones. The strongest trends are occurring in western Canada, including the peatland-dominated Boreal Plains (BP) ecozone. Until recently, land cover classification and fire perimeter resolution and accuracy have limited understanding of which ecosystem types contribute to burned area, in particular, the role of peatlands in the boreal wildfire regime. Here, we use a high-resolution wetland subtype map along with burned area perimeters and ignition point data to evaluate peatland burn rates and ignition conditions. We show that the contribution of coniferous treed peatlands to the total area burned in Alberta's BP ecozone increased between 1985 and 2019 and with total area burned. Coniferous peatlands burned at approximately twice the rate (percent of peatland type area/year) of deciduous peatlands over the study period and that deciduous treed peatlands have the greatest number of human-caused ignitions, affecting both ignition seasonality and peatland area burned. These new insights into the boreal fire regime help reveal drivers of change and have implications for land use planning, fire management, and carbon accounting as changes to ecosystem conditions and fire weather combine to produce shifts in fire regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: GreenFILE
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Abstract:Fire regimes are changing globally in response to climate change, with burned area increasing across nearly all Canadian ecozones. The strongest trends are occurring in western Canada, including the peatland-dominated Boreal Plains (BP) ecozone. Until recently, land cover classification and fire perimeter resolution and accuracy have limited understanding of which ecosystem types contribute to burned area, in particular, the role of peatlands in the boreal wildfire regime. Here, we use a high-resolution wetland subtype map along with burned area perimeters and ignition point data to evaluate peatland burn rates and ignition conditions. We show that the contribution of coniferous treed peatlands to the total area burned in Alberta's BP ecozone increased between 1985 and 2019 and with total area burned. Coniferous peatlands burned at approximately twice the rate (percent of peatland type area/year) of deciduous peatlands over the study period and that deciduous treed peatlands have the greatest number of human-caused ignitions, affecting both ignition seasonality and peatland area burned. These new insights into the boreal fire regime help reveal drivers of change and have implications for land use planning, fire management, and carbon accounting as changes to ecosystem conditions and fire weather combine to produce shifts in fire regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00455067
DOI:10.1139/cjfr-2025-0292