Manitoba researchers look at potential impact of wildfires on polar bear denning habitat

Some Manitoba researchers are looking into the potential impact and overlap of wildfires with polar bear denning habitat. 

Some Manitoba researchers are looking into the potential impact and overlap of wildfires with polar bear denning habitat.

“We have a warming climate, we have the subarctic drying out, and that’s increasing fire risk,” said Stephen Peterson, the director of conservation and research with Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

“And where those fires occur where there’s polar bear denning, we have this problem where the fires can impact the quality of that den habitat.”

Much of Petersen’s research is focusing on Wapusk National Park, a core polar bear denning area situated along the shore of the Hudson Bay where the boreal forest ends and the arctic tundra begins.

“Polar bears tend to be on slopes where they have trees and there’s some permafrost structure and they dig in,” Petersen said.

“And when a fire comes through it burns the peat and the trees that give that area structure, (and make) it the perfect denning habitat. So we want to look at where is the overlap between fire risk and polar bear denning.”

According to the province’s FireView map, there is currently one smaller wildfire burning inside Wapusk National Park. There are a few other fires being monitored south of the Kaskatamagan wildlife management area, a polar bear denning habitat that runs along the Hudson Bay from the mouth of the Nelson River to the Ontario border.

Petersen said the intent of the research is to create a map that can help inform wildfire fighting efforts in the future, to help protect and preserve a species that’s already threatened in Manitoba.