Protecting Nature’s Largest Carbon Store
Peatlands are a type of wetland critical for preventing and mitigating the effects of climate change, as they are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store, storing more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. They are also a significant natural source of methane because microbes in peatlands slowly break down plants in waterlogged conditions and release methane as a byproduct. When damaged by development, they become a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, responsible for almost five per cent of emissions caused by human activity.
This project was funded through Round 9: Biological GHG Management in 2015 and used drone-based remote sensing to assess the impacts roads and pipelines have on GHGs emitted from peatlands. The study proposes new techniques and better construction practices to preserve peatlands’ ability to store carbon and limit their methane emissions.
In Alberta, the development of oil sands resources could disturb a large area of peatland through mining and well-pad construction, exploration lines, roads and pipelines. Although a variety of alternative construction methods have been suggested to minimize peatland damage, there is little motivation to implement these methods as their benefits remain unclear. To highlight the impact of these methods, the project sampled local GHG flux in summer 2016 and 2017 in the peatland. The team used drones for this project, making it the first known study to use drones for this purpose. With the drones, the project monitored and calculated the movement, distribution and management of water. Additionally, the team identified the capacity of the area to hold carbon and how culverts and road positioning can minimize damage.
Understanding the Benefits and Limitations of Drones
Overall, the study demonstrated that roads and pipelines can affect the peatland’s ability to store carbon, and the impacts of road construction extend up to 40 meters beyond the road. The use of drone-based remote sensing proved to be a powerful and scalable method for monitoring these impacts and peatland ecosystems, allowing researchers to generate detailed maps of terrain, vegetation and water levels. However, the effectiveness of the drones varied with surface complexity, performing best in open areas and less accurately in densely vegetated or treed bogs. The study also found that culverts, which aimed to reduce water disruption, were often ineffective depending on their spacing. These results suggest that studies on other construction practices are required.
What’s next?
This study was completed in 2019 and developed a mapping tool through drone technology, opening the door for future studies with drone technology. Building on this work, the research team is developing a research proposal with government scientists at the Canadian Forest Service and Environment and Climate Change Canada. This research will extend the work in the present study and aims to improve the estimation of the impact of human activity on peatland emissions at regional and national scales.