Peatlands are an important land cover in Canada, and act as a source of methane (CH4), a powerful greenhouse gas. The Canadian Model for Peatlands (CaMP, v 2.0), used for national greenhouse gas reporting, estimates annual CH4 fluxes from Canadian peatlands using a simple empirically parameterized water-table response. However, this simple relationship does not perform well in all areas of Canada. In efforts to improve and refine CH4 flux prediction, we conducted a Canada-wide synthesis of peatland CH₄ flux static-chambers and eddy-covariance observations from over forty sites. Further, a novel approach to annualizing static chamber measurements was applied by developing diurnal and seasonal scaling factors derived from continuous eddy-covariance observations at comparable peatland types. The annualized CH4 flux was then used as the response variable in a multivariate statistical model using ERA5 derived climate variables. This procedure was repeated for each of the different peatland types in different hydroclimatic regions. The model was evaluated against withheld sites and years to assess generalizability at national scales. The resulting model provides an observation-constrained alternative for estimating annual peatland CH₄ emissions and their climatic sensitivities, offering potential refinement to national carbon modelling and reporting frameworks.
Halifax NS
Canada