Historic forest fire season leads to new research in the Sault area

A historic fire season across the country is being studied for its impact on the Boreal Forest.

Leading the work is Pedro Antunes a professor at Algoma University and forest ecologist.

Michael Twiss, the dean of the science faculty at the university told CTV News the project comes with a lot of excitement around the university.

"What he's trying to do is study how the changing climate, changing temperature, changing amount of water can actually affect the organisms that are really important to forest health and those organisms are fungi."

The study is being conducted out of an area near White River, in the thick of the Boreal Forest.

"They've set up a series of what we call microcosms, little worlds, where they can study the effect of changing temperature on soil," said Twiss adding the study area sits in a great location, with forest fires relatively commonplace.

Experts said that though these fires are natural, they aren't what they used to be.

"The intensity of them has changed and the frequency has changed, and that is a great concern to us here in Canada," said Twiss.

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The work by Antunes is being funded by grants awarded through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

"With respect to the forest themselves, these are the things that control a lot of the carbon in the atmosphere,” said Twiss.

“Understanding the health of them, and how the climate affects them, helps us understand the impact that we might be having through our action on forests."

He added that the Antunes’ work could be used "to guide forest management plans, or prompt a different look at our consumption of fossil fuels."

The research will take several years to complete and will allow Algoma University graduate, and undergraduate students to get real world application for their learning.