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Peat depth and carbon storage of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada
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  • Yiyao Li,
  • Daorui Han,
  • Cheryl A Rogers,
  • Sarah A Finkelstein,
  • Oleksandra Hararuk,
  • Mike Waddington,
  • Carlos Barreto,
  • James McLaughlin,
  • James Snider,
  • Alemu Gonsamo
Yiyao Li
McMaster University
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Daorui Han
McMaster University
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Cheryl A Rogers
Toronto Metropolitan University
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Sarah A Finkelstein
University of Toronto
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Oleksandra Hararuk
Northern Forestry Centre
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Mike Waddington
McMaster University
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Carlos Barreto
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
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James McLaughlin
Ontario Forest Research Institute, CAN
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James Snider
WWF-Canada
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Alemu Gonsamo
McMaster University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) are recognized as the second largest peatland complex in the world. Due to variability in peat thickness across a large and heterogeneous landscape, the existing carbon (C) storage estimates for the HBL may contain large uncertainty. Here, we use geospatial variables that are associated with HBL peat formation, age, accumulation, and occurrence to understand the driving factors for peat depth variability and map peat depth and C storage at 30m spatial resolution. The estimated average peat depth of HBL is 184(±48)  cm with 90% of values falling between 89 and 264 cm. Based on the spatially explicit peat depth, the HBL total C storage is estimated to be 30(±6)  Pg. Distance to the coastline is the most important indicator of peat depth where the depth increases with distance further away from Hudson Bay coastline, confirming that the time since peat formation is closely related to peat depth.
31 Oct 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
01 Nov 2024Published in ESS Open Archive