##  [Overwintering Fires Can Occur in Both Peatlands and Upland Forests with Varying Ecological Impacts](/resource/overwintering-fires-can-occur-both-peatlands-and-upland-forests-varying-ecological-impacts) 

Organization

[Wilfrid Laurier University](/organization/wilfrid-laurier-university)

[University of Waterloo](/organization/university-waterloo)

[Northern Arizona University](/organization/northern-arizona-university)

[Vrije Universiteit](/organization/vrije-universiteit)

[University of East Anglia](/organization/university-east-anglia)

[Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)](/organization/natural-resources-canada-nrcan)

[Government of Northwest Territories (GNWT)](/organization/government-northwest-territories-gnwt)

[University of California](/organization/university-california)

[University of Colorado](/organization/university-colorado)

 

 

Resource Type

[Peer reviewed article](/taxonomy/term/37)

 

 

Author(s)

Jennifer Baltzer

Xanthe Walker

Sander Veraverbeke

Thomas Hessilt

Raquel Alfaro-Sanchez

Max van Gerrevink

Michelle Mack

Emily Ogden

Richard Olsen

Rebecca Scholten 

Merritt Turetsky

 

 

Original Authors

Jennifer Baltzer

Xanthe Walker

Sander Veraverbeke

Thomas Hessilt

Raquel Alfaro-Sanchez

Max van Gerrevink

Michelle Mack

Emily Ogden

Richard Olsen

Rebecca Scholten 

Merritt Turetsky

 

 

Contacts

[Jennifer Baltzer](/contact/jennifer-baltzer)

 

 

Resource Date:

2025

 

 

Climate warming is increasing the prevalence of overwintering ‘zombie’   
fres, which are expected to occur primarily in peatlands, undermining   
carbon storage through deep burning of organic soils. We visited   
overwintering fres in Northwest Territories, Canada, and Interior Alaska,   
United States, and present feld measurements of where overwintering   
fres are burning in the landscape and their impact on combustion severity   
and forest regeneration. Combustion severity hotspots did not generate   
overwintering, but peat and woody biomass smouldering both supported   
overwintering, leading to wintertime smouldering in both treed peatlands   
and upland forests. These fndings create challenges for fre managers   
and uncertainty about carbon emissions, but forest regeneration was   
not compromised.