Exploring peatland phenology: tracking the colour of peatlands using community science (Scott Davidson, UQAM)

Peatlands are vital ecosystems, storing one-third of the world鈥檚 soil carbon and are a key nature-based climate solution. Understanding the dynamics of these systems, particularly the phenology (i.e., the leaf out, timing of maximum greenness and senescence) of understory vegetation such as sedges, mosses, and shrubs, is essential for tracking their functioning.

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To address this, The PeatPic Project, a community-based citizen science initiative, was developed, using smartphone-based methods to monitor peatland vegetation. Contributions from 27 sites across 10 countries during 2021 and 2022 revealed significant variations in leaf greenness indices, such as the timing of peak greenness, across biomes.

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Building on the success of The PeatPic Project, this expanded into Tracking the Colour of Peatlands, a broader community-based effort to monitor vegetation phenology and assess peatland health across diverse landscapes. This seminar will explore how community science can provide useful data on peatland functioning and providing critical insights for peatland conservation, management and restoration efforts.