Field and Laboratory Tools and Instruments for Boreal Reclamation

NAIT Boreal Research Institute(NBRI)是NAIT的一个卫星园区，位于艾伯塔省和平河，埃德蒙顿西北500公里处。和平河油砂资源行业的增长给北部森林生态系统带来了压力，包括艾伯塔省西北部积压的15,000个废弃油气井。艾伯塔省出台了严格的环境法规，以指导森林开垦。石油和天然气公司有动力满足并超过这些规定。为了取得成功，石油和天然气公司面临着寻找以科学为基础、成本效益高的回收技术的紧迫性。进一步鼓励工业界建设中小型企业开垦企业和商业温室的能力，因为这些中小企业是森林开垦供应链的重要组成部分。NAIT通过加拿大创新基金会(CFI)和艾伯塔省政府获得资金，除了NAIT的直接资金外，还建造了一个研究温室和相关的实验室设施，以生产种子库和繁殖适合森林开垦的植物。ARTI的资金是递增的，但对这些现有的温室和实验室设施是补充的。特别是，ARTI基金将增加重要的分析能力。ARTI相关的实验室设备可用于土壤、水和植物化学分析，以及种子活力和植物生理测试。了解森林开垦中使用的种子和植物在田间和特定物理和化学土壤条件下的“如何”和“为什么”表现，将极大地改善开垦研究成果。该设备将通过环境和流域监测站网络进行景观规模的生态系统评估。最终，北方围垦的应用研究将使工业受益，并为普通公众提供有价值的生态成果。

NAIT Boreal Research Institute (NBRI) is a satellite campus of NAIT located in Peace River, Alberta, 500 km northwest of Edmonton. Resource industry growth in the Peace River Oilsands is placing pressure on the boreal forest ecosystem, including a backlog of 15,000 abandoned oil and gas well sites in northwest Alberta. The Province of Alberta has introduced stringent environmental regulations to guide forest reclamation. Oil and gas companies are motivated to meet and exceed these regulations. To be successful, oil and gas companies face an urgency to find science-based, cost effective reclamation techniques. Industry is further motivated to build the capacity of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) reclamation enterprises and commercial greenhouse, as these SMEs are a vital part of the forest reclamation supply chain. NAIT secured funding through Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Government of Alberta and, in addition to NAIT's direct funding, constructed a research greenhouse and associated laboratory facilities to produce seed banks and to propagate plants suitable for forest reclamation. ARTI funds are incremental but complementary to these existing greenhouse and laboratory facilities. In particular, ARTI funds will add important analytical capability. The ARTI-related laboratory equipment allows for soil, water, and plant chemistry analyses and for seed viability and plant physiology tests. Understanding "how" and "why" seeds and plants used in forest reclamation perform in the field, and under specific physical and chemical soil conditions, will significantly improve reclamation research outcomes. The equipment will enable landscape-scale ecosystem assessment through a network of environmental and watershed monitoring stations. Ultimately, applied research in boreal reclamation will benefit industry, and provide ecological outcomes of value to the general public.