Spatial Heterogeneity of Surface Topography in Peatlands: Assessing Overwintering Habitat Availability for the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake

Reduced Net CO2 Uptake During Dry Summers in a Boreal Shield Peatland

“…The study site is located in a peatland ∼20 km north of Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada in the Georgian Bay Biosphere, Mnidoo Gamii, a UNESCO Biosphere situated within the Robinson‐Huron Treaty of 1850 and the Williams Treaty of 1923, and located on Anishinabek territory. The EGB region is located in a rock barrens and peatland landscape of the Boreal Shield ecozone (Markle et al., 2020; P. A. Moore et al., 2019). The region has a cool‐temperate and humid climate with a 30‐year (1981–2010 climate normal) average air temperature for May–October of 15.7 ± 4.5°C (Dunchurch ∼45 km NE from site; Government of Canada, 2021).…”

“…The vegetation community is comprised of mosses ( Polytrichum strictum , Sphagnum palustre , Sphagnum fallax , and Sphagnum cuspidatum ) and a variety of shrubs ( Rhododendron groenlandicum and Chamaedaphne calyculata ), with leaf area index (LAI) ranging from 0.64 ± 0.30 to 0.90 ± 0.50 at the peatland margins and middle, respectively. The site also has a few jack pine ( Pinus banksiana ) and white pine ( Pinus strobus ) trees (diameter at breast height = 11.8 ± 6.6 cm) scattered in the middle of the peatland but mostly located on the peatland margins (Markle et al., 2020).…”

“…The study site is located in a peatland ∼20 km north of Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada in the Georgian Bay Biosphere, Mnidoo Gamii, a UNESCO Biosphere situated within the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850 and the Williams Treaty of 1923, and located on Anishinabek territory. The EGB region is located in a rock barrens and peatland landscape of the Boreal Shield ecozone (Markle et al, 2020;P. A. Moore et al, 2019).…”