Thread by @queenofpeat

It’s the perfect day for a Twitter 🔥 storm! This thread will explore the findings of our recent @nature paper, & I’ll also share natural history, 🔥 facts, & of course a dose of 🔥 puns. Feeling hot hot hot....

@nature 2/ To warm up, thanks to my talented coauthors (on twitter @WalkerXJ, @forestecogrp, @tedschuur, @n_j_day @EcossNau, @INSTAAR , @uofg, @usask, @WoodsHoleResCtr). Some amazing journalists have been thinking @ this. @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk please share!

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 3/ Let’s start w/ background. 🔥is a key force that shapes ecology around the world. Sorry Smokey, but 🔥 has been around a lot longer than you. Ecologists often classify the world based on vegetation, but we can do this w/ 🔥. Pyromes not biomes! pnas.org/content/110/16…

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 4/ The boreal forest is the world’s largest intact forested system, and it has been shaped by fire for > 5000 yrs. We think of the boreal forest as being fire-adapted. That means that many dominant boreal species actually DEPEND on fire to survive. borealforestinnamerica.blogspot.com

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 5/ An example of this fire dependency is serotinous cones. Several dominant boreal trees have cones that are protected by a waxy coating & require the heat of fires to release seeds. Check it out in this live action video! Fire = seed freedom!

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 6/ Fire fact! Fire has been part of the boreal forest >5000 yrs. Black spruce also appeared in the Canadian boreal forest around the same time. Interlude - oh black spruce - you are iconic in Canada & deserve so much more love. I vote you national tree at least.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 7/ So both black spruce & fire appear around the same time in the historical record. Which came first? Science shows that black spruce appeared first during a moist, cool climate period & BROUGHT FIRE WITH IT. This should turn everyone into an ecologist!

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 8/ This also is a great example of why it can be difficult to project future fire activity based solely on climate-fire relationships. It’s not always that simple. Ultimately, fire regimes depend on fire weather, ignitions, fuels, and topography.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 9/ It’s really important to start with this info, because fire is a key, historical part of the boreal forest. But climate change is cranking up the fire dial, causing more frequent large fire conditions than in the past.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 10/ In 2014, the Northwest Territories of Canada experienced once of the most severe fire seasons on record. Yellowknife was isolated & many residents were forced to evacuate. Fire managers in the area commented that they had never seen fire conditions so severe.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 11/ This part of a longer-term trend toward more frequent megafires occurring in places like NW Canada & Alaska. Attribution methods show that anthropogenic climate change is causing these changes in various boreal regions.
link.springer.com/article/10.100…
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 12/ Also, attribution science at a global scale shows that anthropogenic climate change is causing severe fire weather to exceed natural variability around the world. Not just the boreal, but also Europe & the Amazon.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 13/ The 2014 NWT fires in Canada gave us the opportunity to study impacts on boreal forests and peatlands. We also compared our results to what we had found from studying other large fire years, such as the 2004 fire season in Alaska.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 14/ We found that the 2014 NWT fires did not burn as deeply into the soils as did the severe Alaska fires. But NWT soils are dense, and so these fires released as much stored carbon per m^2 as we had measured following the 2004 Alaska fires. publish.csiro.au/WF/WF17095

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 15/ Scaling up, the 2014 fires burning in the Northwest Territories released a huge amount of carbon to the atmosphere, equivalent to 50% of annual terrestrial ecosystem productivity across the entire country of Canada! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 16/ This really puts fire impacts into context. When a region of Canada experiences a severe fire season, it can radically alter the national carbon budget.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 17/ We also learned that severe fire activity reduced soil biodiversity, causing declines in fungi, mycorrhizas, & saprotrophs. Severe burning isn’t just affecting levels of carbon stored in litter and soil, it also impacts soil microorganisms. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 18/ These results made us ponder. The NWT fires did not burn as deeply as expected (based on findings from Alaska like this fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/journ…) but upscaled C emissions were high. How much of this was “fueled” by old, legacy carbon?

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 19/ What is legacy carbon? We defined it as ecosystem carbon that accumulated in the past, but escaped burning during previous fires. Legacy carbon then is biomass that dates older than the last previous fire event.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 20/ Since I LOVE peat, I know a lot about legacy carbon. Thick peat layers are one way that boreal ecosystems can store old, legacy carbon that in the past escaped burning. This is me working on a permafrost core near Kakisa NT.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk 21/ And here are two talented emerging scientists on our project (@jholloway15 & @KirstenAReid) drilling into frozen peat with a SIPRE corer. The best way to sample this kind of legacy carbon. With extensions, we can obtain 4+ meters of sample this way. Go ladies go!

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk @jholloway15 @KirstenAReid 22/ Phew. I almost got sidetracked into a peat thread. I get a little giddy talking about my favourite subject. Thick peat layers of course are not the only way that boreal soils store legacy carbon. It can be found in thinner deposits of well drained sites too.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk @jholloway15 @KirstenAReid 23/ Our group - led by Michelle Mack and @WalkerXJ at @EcossNau used radiocarbon dating to determine whether the 2014 fires burned into legacy carbon layers. Here is a wonderful visualization of the study by the talented @victorleshyk.

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk @jholloway15 @KirstenAReid @victorleshyk 24/ We found that most of what burned in the 2014 fires was stored in ground layer fuels, consistent with previous studies. Most carbon was accumulated since the last fire, so not legacy carbon. But......

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk @jholloway15 @KirstenAReid @victorleshyk 25/ Younger stands were susceptible to legacy carbon loss. This means that as the entire forest shifts in demography towards younger aged stands, burning is likely to tap into these older sources of soil carbon. Results are published here go.nature.com/2MvJetp

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk @jholloway15 @KirstenAReid @victorleshyk 26/ This is a bit of a one-two punch for our boreal forest ecosystems. It means that age structure is linked to emissions of old carbon to the atmosphere, which are most likely to contribute to vicious cycles promoting further warming. Another great illustration by @victorleshyk

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk @jholloway15 @KirstenAReid @victorleshyk 27/ The science continues! Beyond what is reported in @nature, @forestecogrp & I continue to monitor key aspects of forest/wildlife health and ecosystem services in a wider network of plots varying in time-since-fire. @DoctorSpruce @kristenbill95 @KirstenAReid @NWF_Research

@nature @WalkerXJ @forestecogrp @tedschuur @n_j_day @EcossNau @INSTAAR @uofg @usask @WoodsHoleResCtr @themadstone @CraigAWelch @bobweber @IvanSemeniuk @jholloway15 @KirstenAReid @victorleshyk @DoctorSpruce @kristenbill95 @NWF_Research 28/ Do caribou avoid burned areas because of lack of forage? How does fire impact permafrost thaw? We are addressing these questions using stakeholder-engaged research approaches. Image: newsdeeply.com/arctic/article…

29/ I am so proud of what this study stands for. Scientists reacted to a stressful 🔥 season that left communities and 🔥 managers w/ many questions. 🇨🇦 & 🇺🇸 science in partnership. A great example of science diplomacy, that we fostered w/ @NASA @NASA_ABoVE

@NASA @NASA_ABoVE 30/ Much like our Alaska work, this work in the NWT tracks the immediate and long-term effects of a large fire season. Throughout my career, some part of Canada has experienced large fires each year. In other words, large fires have occurred at regional scales.

@NASA @NASA_ABoVE 31/ And that is why the fire season of 2019 has been so unusual. Many places in the Arctic- Greenland, Russia, Alaska - are all experiencing severe fires in response to the summer heatwave. Severe Arctic burning on different continents. This is a global event.

@NASA @NASA_ABoVE 32/ Time (and science) will tell, but it seems to me that much of what has fuelled the Greenland and Russian fires are northern taiga fuel complexes. But this should be taken as a sign that boreal fire regimes can and are pushing into the Arctic.

@NASA @NASA_ABoVE 33/ Food for thought. Will a future Arctic be shaped by wildfire much like the boreal biomes has been in the past? What would that look like, and what parts of the cryosphere would survive? Borealification of the Arctic.

34/ It’s getting late here and this is the kind of 🔥 I have been watching for the past hr. But I need to spend some time on this thread discussing solutions. I inevitably am asked what can be done to curb northern fires?

35/ More than 90% of area burned in the North occurs during large, lightning-ignited 🔥 that burn in remote areas. Can we effectively manage these? No.

36/ Climate mitigation policy is our best hope for keeping Arctic 🔥 regimes in check. Hands down. No hesitation from me. But did we acquire new knowledge that can lead to new solutions? I think so!

37/ Let’s take a minute to thank the brave men & women that are on the frontlines of fighting northern 🔥. This job is tough in every sense yet these people often go unthanked. As someone who has been in a remote community surrounded by 🔥, I know firsthand what they mean.

38/ The philosophy of fighting northern 🔥 is to protect lives/homes/structures, & let the rest burn naturally. I don’t see this philosophy changing. Why? Our 🔥 managers are being asked to do more w/ less resources, under new shifting conditions. Plus 🔥 is important (read up!).

39/ I believe our @NASA, @NSERC_CRSNG, and GNWT funded research will help fire managers prepare for the next big season. We have learned a lot in partnership with folks who make tactical decisions on the ground. This will continue with @NWF_Research @GWFutures

40/ More food for thought. What if scientists & Indigenous leaders knew which lands held the most legacy carbon? Can we add old carbon to the list of valuable resources for 🔥 protection? What info is needed to even begin to contemplate this?

41/ Protecting soil carbon from development and impacts of course is essential to resilient forests & wetlands. But after the 2019 heatwave, we know that deep burning 🔥 can occur anywhere in the North.

42/ Scientists need to work w/ 🔥 managers to inform them where legacy carbon is & where/when it is vulnerable to burning. We need to develop new tools/approaches for managing smouldering combustion. Traditional 🔥 fighting techniques just won’t work in these conditions.

43/ We need to obliterate the silos that keep fire scientists & fire ecologists from interacting. Why? We need tactical solutions to keep carbon in the ground as long as we can.

44/ In our long complex relationship w/ 🔥, we both need & fear 🔥. It deserves our respect now more than ever. Global 🔥 regimes are changing, the warning signs are clear, & it’s affecting people, health, & climate. Thank you for being part of my tweet 🔥 storm. The end!

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