Multi-decadal degradation and fragmentation of palsas and peat plateaus in coastal Labrador, northeastern Canada

Abstract

Peatland permafrost landforms, such as palsas and peat plateaus, often represent the most southern lowland permafrost occurrences in the Northern Hemisphere. While peatland permafrost is often found in continental conditions, over a thousand permafrost peatlands were recently identified along the previously understudied coastline of the Labrador Sea in northeastern Canada. The vulnerability of these landscapes to thaw is unknown but is expected to have hydrological and ecological impacts on important caribou habitat, the abundance of culturally relevant berries, and permafrost carbon storage. Using a combination of aerial photography (from 1948, 1985, 1992, 1994, and 2021) and high-resolution satellite imagery (from 2017, 2020, and 2021), we assess multi-decadal areal changes to peatland permafrost landforms at seven peatlands along the Labrador Sea coastline spanning from Red Bay (51.7° N) to north of Hopedale (55.7° N). Analyses reveal declines in permafrost extent of 33%–93% at individual sites, occurring at mean rates of 0.8%–1.5%/a. Permafrost loss was found to occur most rapidly at mixed palsa and peat plateau sites (mean rate of 1.4%/a), followed by palsa sites (mean rate of 1.2%/a) and peat plateau sites (mean rate of 0.9%/a). Patterns of permafrost loss also differed between landform types, with more complete loss of individual landforms at palsa sites and more lateral and internal loss of existing landforms at peat plateau and mixed sites. This widespread degradation of peatland permafrost over the past 28–73 years is attributed to regional warming and peatland greening. Understanding recent change to permafrost peatlands in coastal Labrador is an important step towards predicting future habitat change in northeastern Canada and will inform regional land management in areas dominated by these culturally important landforms.