Lakes and landscapes

Made up of six unique ecosystems, Wapusk spans from forest to fen. These ecosystems include more than just plants and animals and the monitoring of nonliving elements of the landscape, such as water and permafrost, are an important area of research for scientists.

Université de Sherbrooke: Reconstructing lake and peatland dynamics during the industrial era in Wapusk National Park near Churchill, Manitoba led by Dr. Frédéric Bouchard

Previous studies have documented a reduction of water levels in lakes, including the drying up of lakes in the Wapusk/Churchill area. However, it is not known if these events are new since the pre-Industrial period. This project seeks to understand if permafrost thaw and variations in water flow patterns, caused by recent climate warming, have resulted in these changes. It also examines if there is an increase in the transfer of carbon from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems.

In August 2024, a series of ponds/lakes and their sediments were sampled in Wapusk National Park. Sampling spanned the Coastal Fen in the Northeast, through the Interior Peat Plateau, to the Boreal Spruce Forest in the Southwest. Lake water was surveyed for physical properties such as temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and pH. Water samples were collected to be analyzed for physico-chemical properties. This includes nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, and stable isotope tracers. Lake sediment cores were collected and will be dated to cover the last few centuries. To help describe recent trends, these reconstructions will also be compared to aerial photographs and satellite images.

This research takes place in collaboration with:

• Laure Gandois and Maialen Barret (Centre de recherche sur la biodiversité et l'environnement, France)
• Sylvain Ferrant (Centre d’études spatiales de la biosphère, France)
• Julien Arsenaul and Lucile Cosyn-Wexsteen (Dept. of Applied Geomatics, Université de Sherbrooke)
• Michelle Garneau and Tiina Kolari (Dept. of Geography, UQAM)

Université Laval: Ice-wedge distribution, development, and impacts on landscape evolution in the Barrens of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Northern Manitoba led by Tabatha Rahman

The Barrens of Northern Manitoba is home to some of Canada's southernmost continuous permafrost and wedge ice - a type of ground ice that forms during particularly cold winters. The Barrens' wedge ice is predicted to melt with continued climate warming, which will have negative impacts on the crucial Hudson Bay Railway and vital polar bear denning habitat. However, our ability to predict and mitigate risks associated with permafrost thaw is limited because the volume and distribution of the wedge ice are unknown. This research seeks to determine wedge-ice volume, distribution, and impacts on landscape evolution in the Barrens (mostly treeless peatlands in the Wapusk area).

Results indicate that 88% of the Barrens' wedge ice is located on peat plateaus, on which the Hudson Bay Railway was built and polar bears build dens. Wedge ice represents 5.58% of the upper 2 m of permafrost in the Barrens' peat plateaus. These ice wedges are located at the top of the permafrost, making them susceptible to permafrost thaw. Permafrost in regions with a thick peat cover (≥ 1m) appears to be resilient to climate warming and fires.

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