Improving early land reclamation performance evaluations within the Athabasca Oil Sands Region using Plant Root Simulator (PRS[TM]) to assess reclaimed upland forest soil function

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The Japan Canada Oil Sands Limited (JACOS) is an oil sands extraction company and operator of the**Hangingstone oil sands project located approximately 50 km southwest of Fort McMurray and 25 km west of**the First Nations' community of Anzac. JACOS is one of many companies engaged in resource extraction, like**those in the Athabasca Oil Sands; they are legally required to reclaim and if possible ecologically restore lands**or offsets as part of their license. A major barrier is the large variation in successional trajectories once land is**reclaimed or restored, i.e. it is difficult to guage whether the intended effect and outcome are being met as a**requirement of the license. Combined with the ethical responsibility industry and governments have in terms**of mitigating environmental impacts, there is in important gap and pressing need to find indicators that**accurately assess the dynamic of early ecological succession and whether the prescribed functionality and**productivity goals are likely to be met. This is an enormous and fundamental scientific challenge as is; the**industrial application of this challenge is even greater because resource extraction cannot be carried out without**clear abilities to meet land reclamation, restoration and offset goals. Soil function of nutrient cycling processes**is the most promising line of research. Early tests show that it can be an accurate and cost effective indicator of**vegetation community establishment, productivity, and successional trajectory. A specific technology, Plant**Root Simulator (PRSTM) probes, may represent the next generation of tools that can help determine if a**company is meeting the ethical and regulatory/licensing requirements of resource extaction, e.g. the Athabasaca**Oil Sands. The technology is not complex as it indicates bioavailable soil nutrient flux rates using soil ion**exchange resin membranes; its innovation is in its portability, accuracy and cost effectiveness.