Maria Strack

1. Potential effects of climatic change on peatland carbon biogeochemistry:  This research investigates the effects of water table draw down and warming, expected to occur under climate change, on carbon cycling in northern peatlands. Currently, the effect of this disturbance on carbon dioxide exchange, methane efflux, subsurface methane dynamics, dissolved organic carbon concentrations and soil carbon storage is being quantified at a bog in northern Alberta.

2. Peatland carbon biogeochemistry following restoration and reclamation: Peatland ecosystems face a variety of disturbance including drainage, harvesting for horticultural peat and land-use change associated with resource extraction.  We are investigating the effect of these disturbances and subsequent restoration/reclamation efforts on carbon cycling in peatland sites in Quebec and Alberta.

3. Spatio-temporal variability in peat hydrophysical properties:  This research focuses on quantifying differences peat properties, such as bulk density, pore size distribution, saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, between peatland microforms and types. Changes in hydrophysical properties associated with peat decomposition are also being investigated.

4. Sphagnum moss ecohydrology In many boreal peatlands Sphagnum moss is the major peat forming species. Its productivity is related to moss moisture content and this research investigates the link between productivity, moisture content and subsurface hydrology.

Waddington, J.M., Kellner, E., Strack, M., Price J. 2010. Differential peat deformation, compressibility and water storage between peatland microforms: implications for ecosystem function and development. Water Resources Research, 46, W07538, doi: 2009WR008802.

Strack, M., Mierau, T. 2010. Evaluating spatial variability of free-phase gas in peat using ground-penetrating radar and direct measurement. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 115, G02010, doi: 10.1029/2009JG001045

Lucchese, M.C., Waddington, J.M., Poulin, M., Pouliot, R., Rochefort, L., Strack, M. 2010. Organic matter accumulation in a restored peatland: evaluating restoration success. Ecological Engineering, 36, 482-488.

Waddington, J.M., Strack, M., Greenwood, M.J. 2010. Towards restoring the net carbon sink function of degraded peatlands: short-term response in CO2 exchange to ecosystem-scale restoration. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 115, G01008, doi: 10.1029/2009JG001090.

Waddington, J.M., Plach, J., Cagampan, J.P., Lucchese, M., Strack M. 2009. Reducing the carbon footprint of Canadian peat extraction and restoration. Ambio, 38, 194-200.

Strack, M., Waddington, J.M., Lucchese, M.C., Cagampan, J.P. 2009. Moisture controls on CO2 exchange in a Sphagnum-dominated peatland: Results from an extreme drought field experiment. Ecohydrology, doi: 10.1002/eco.68

Waddington, J.M., Ketcheson, S., Kellner, E., Strack, M., Baird, A. 2009. Evidence that piezometers vent gas from peat soils and implications for pore-water pressure and hydraulic conductivity measurements. Hydrological Processes, 23, 1249-1254, doi: 10.1002/hp7244.

Strack, M. and Price, J.S. 2009. Moisture controls on carbon dioxide dynamics of peat-Sphagnum monoliths. Ecohydrology, 2, 34-41, doi: 10.1002/eco.36.

Kettridge, N., Comas, X., Baird, A., Slater, L., Strack, M., Thompson, D., Jol, H., Binley, A. 2008. Ecohydrologically-important subsurface structures in peatlands are revealed by ground-penetrating radar and complex conductivity surveys. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 113, G04030, doi: 10.1029/2008JG000787.

Strack, M. and Waddington, J.M. 2008. Spatio-temporal variability of subsurface CH4 in peatlands. Journal of Geophysical Research ? Biogeosciences, 113, G02010, doi: 10.1029/2007JG000472.

Strack, M., Waddington, J.M., Bourbonniere, R.A., Buckton, E.L., Shaw, K., Whittington, P., and Price, J.S. 2008. Effect of water table drawdown on peatland dissolved organic carbon export and dynamics. Hydrological Processes, doi: 10.1002/hyp6931.

Price, J.S., Whittington, P.N., Elrick, D.E., Strack, M. Brunet, N., and Faux, E. 2008. A method to determine unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in living and undecomposed Sphagnum mosses. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 72, 487-491.

Whittington, P., Strack, M., Kaufman, S., van Haarlem, R., Stoesser, P., Maltez, J., Price, J.S., and Stone, M. 2007. The role of peat volume change and vegetation community on the hydrology of a kettle-hole wetland in Southern Ontario, Canada. Mires and Peat, 2, Available: http://www.mires-and-peat.net.

Strack, M. and Waddington J.M. 2007. Response of peatland carbon dioxide and methane fluxes to a water table drawdown experiment. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 21, GB1007, doi: 10.1029/2006GB002715.

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