Mike Waddington 🇨🇦

For over 15 years the McMaster Ecohydro Lab has awarded the #NobelPeatPrize to the authors of the best peatland or peat paper of the year.

It’s that time of year again where we review papers and finalize a list of nominees.

Do you have a fave paper for 2025 you would like us to consider?

Our new paper in QSR, led by Dr. Donna Hawthorne, explores the various successional pathways that the huge peat swamp forests of the central Congo Basin have taken during the late Quaternary. Open access link available until 21 Nov eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

New fully-funded PhD project working on flooding, climate change, catastrophe modelling and the re-insurance industry: unrisk-cdt.ac.uk/projects/cli... Work with @floodre.bsky.social Erica Thompson and I.

Back from a visit to 🇸🇪 🇫🇮 & 🇪🇪!

Enjoyed meeting ecology, biogeochem, and hydrology researchers to talk about #peatland wildfire, restoration, and resilience.

Sweden’s two #NobelPeatPrize laureates (Gustaf Granath, Betty Ehnvall) were in the audience of my Uppsala Uni seminar.

The Sponge Analogy Problem: Moving Towards Clearer Communication of Peatland Hydrological Processes Correctly communicating peatland hydrology.

We shouldn't say peatlands act as sponges...but they can slow flow and dampen droughts. Our new paper led by Kirsten Lees onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

@peatofmind.bsky.social @peatymike.bsky.social @em-shuttleworth.bsky.social @andybairdj.bsky.social @researchleeds.bsky.social

The Canadian Global water Futures programme – creation, foundation, and operation The world is entering an era of immense water-related threats, from floods, droughts, and other extreme events to degradation of water quality and severe pressure on aquatic ecosystems, increasing ...

New paper out: The Canadian Global Water Futures programme – creation, foundation, and operation

As GWF concluded this year, the article looks back at how the program was built, its achievements (2,000+ publications, 3,100+ talks), and lessons for future water research in Canada & globally.

New #PeatPaper by Lees et al. in #HydrologicalProcesses

"The Sponge Analogy Problem: Moving Towards Clearer Communication of Peatland Hydrological Processes"

#peatlands #hydrology #scicomm

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Interested in canoeing, Canadian Wilderness, the barren lands, the North? I can only warmly recommend this fascinating book by my friend and hydrology colleague Jim McNamara @jpmboise.bsky.social. You can SEE the landscape and hear the clicking of the caribou

I started working at MAC 30 years ago this week teaching courses for two geography legends: hydrology (M-k. Woo) and biogeography (G. MacDonald). That experience and mentoring from Profs Woo and Rouse helped shape a research career in the emerging (at that time) field of ecohydrology. #BestJobEver

And a little more organized now

Well, well, well (and a few piezometers too).

A peatland ecohydrologist’s backyard!

Those who know, know.

Our latest paper!

Regional Wildfire Smoke Reduces Boreal Forest Carbon Uptake

Van Huizen et al.

Smoke-related inhibition of photosynthesis via reduced light availability should be considered when quantifying the net impacts of boreal wildfires on net radiative forcing & carbon balance

Cumulative Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) observed at the eddy covariance tower for DOY 128–168 in years 2009–2011. Note the large decrease around DOY 138 in 2011 due to wildfire smoke.

New paper out - Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest
carbon uptake

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Wildfires are a source of carbon and they can reduce the carbon sink from the forest. Cumulative Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) shows a big drop in 2011 Day 138 due to wildfire smoke.

Mer Bleue Bog 'filled with bombs' according to new drone scans | CBC News A recent project by Carleton University graduate students used drones to search for magnetic signals linked to unexploded bombs in the Mer Bleue Bog, which was used as a practice bombing range in the ...

There is the peatland carbon bomb and then there are bombs in the peatland!

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Canadian wildfire numbers and status https://www.ciffc.ca/

Map of Canada showing location and status of wildfires https://www.ciffc.ca/

Canada now has over 500 out of control (OC) wildfires (299 Monitored and 208 Actioned =507 OC fires). These numbers are similar to the 2023 record smashing season except this year only half the country is on fire.

Q: How does a peat scientist that enjoys adventure spend the #WorldBogDay weekend?

A: 180+ km of trekking, paddling, MTB, and orienteering across the peaty northern Ontario landscape at the Wilderness Traverse 24 hour Adventure Race.

Completed the full course again!

📷: L. Moreira, M. Ashmore

🌿 New in IJWF:

Belcher et al. explore seasonal changes in flammability across UK heathlands, showing that live fuel moisture dynamics drive shifts in fire behaviour. Their fuel modelling reveals up to 4× differences in fire spread based on phenology.
👉 doi.org/10.1071/WF24...

#IJWildlandFire

Canadian wetlands are treasures that deserve protection Canada is home to a quarter of the world’s remaining wetlands. Despite decades of efforts, wetlands continue to be under threat around the world.

COP15 of the Ramsar Convention starts today. Here in Canada we have the privilege of being home to a quarter of the world's remaining wetlands. Let's not forget what a treasure they are.
theconversation.com/canadian-wet...

Check out our new paper "Ecohydrological drivers of Boreal Shield peatland fire refugia" in Ecohydrology.

Authors: Alex Tekatch, Chantel Markle, Sophie Wilkinson, Paul Moore, @mercury-ecohydro.bsky.social, @peatofmind.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Carbon emissions from Canada's wildfires are spiking. But that's not counting our vast peatlands | CBC News A new government model to estimate peatland emissions and their impact on climate change could provide a new perspective on the problem — and spark new discussions about solutions.

CBC getting the word out there on peatland wildfire emissions, an increasingly important topic as fire seasons keep getting worse in Canada.
www.cbc.ca/news/science...

CBC story on Canadian peatlands and wildfire featuring @gregverkaik.bsky.social @olefeldt.bsky.social @wetland-ghg.bsky.social

Great day for bays!
Hole-in-the-Wall, Big Sound, Georgian Bay.

Hydrology Paper of the Day @gregverkaik.bsky.social @micaheckert.bsky.social @peatofmind.bsky.social on how changes to drainage and spatial burn patterns affected biogeochemical cycles and vegetation cover in a peatland: depth of burn, carbon loss, and burn severity in context of a fuel load model.

Map of Canada showing locations of fires and their status as of july 12, 2025

Area burned in Canada for 2025 is now at 5.6 M ha exceeding the total for the entire 2024 fire season. This fire season is not as bad as 2023 that had 9.37 M ha burned by July 12, 2023. However, 2025 is a very active year with 365 fires out of control and 2 months still left in the fire season.

Digging deep: Fieldwork helping Canada prepare for a hotter, drier future Greg Verkaik's research aims to better understand how peatlands influence wildfire behaviour - and how we can reduce the risk of wildfires.

As Canada braces for another intense wildfire season, Greg Verkaik is digging into how drying peatlands are fuelling deep-burning fires. His fieldwork is providing critical insight in a warming world.

More: brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/fie...

#Wildfires #Peatlands #McMasterExperts

Check our new paper “Fuel Loads and Peat Smoldering Carbon Loss Increase Following Drainage in a Forested Boreal Peatland” published in JGR-Biogeosciences: doi.org/10.1029/2024...
@micaheckert.bsky.social, Sophie Wilkinson, Paul Moore, and @peatofmind.bsky.social [1/9]

Tansley Review now out @newphyt.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... big team effort involving @garethclay.bsky.social @jpritson.bsky.social @em-shuttleworth.bsky.social @queenofpeat.bsky.social @peatofmind.bsky.social @mercury-ecohydro.bsky.social @adamjohnst.bsky.social (1/2)

The area burned in the Canadian 2025 fire season has hit 5 million ha. Third active fire season in a row that combined has burned 7% of the Canadian forest. Currently we have 346 fires out of control (192 monitored out of control (OC) and 154 OC that are being actioned) so expect the number to rise.

Toxic metals found in UK peatlands could pose health risk Wildfires and climate change could see decades' worth of pollutants released into the water courses.

Early results from our cutting-edge PIPES project at Queen's University Belfast featured on BBC Northern Ireland this morning.

Toxic metals found in UK peatlands could pose health risk www.bbc.com/news/article...

🇨🇦 Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦
#Never51