Integrated cover soils and woody debris impacts on reclaimed forest ecosystems

油砂开采后建立一个有效的森林生态系统是艾伯塔省北部北方森林地区的立法要求。采用适当的土地复垦方法，对确保后工业时代的土地与受干扰前的土地具有“同等的土地能力”至关重要。本项目将量化三种填海技术的影响，描述负责任的生态机制，并制定实施的业务建议，从而有助于改善土地填海做法。我们会进行三项实地研究，以评估不同填海方法对树木、植物和土壤的影响。在第一项研究中，我们将研究一种综合覆盖土壤设计，即在一个复垦场地上以不同的斑块大小和排列方式放置两种不同类型的复垦土壤，如何影响植物在不同土壤类型上的定植和扩张的速度和程度。第二项研究将以整根原木的形式在土壤表面施用粗木屑作为复垦改良剂。我们将系统地量化整个景观中原木对发展中的植物群落和土壤养分的影响。最后的研究将描述填海土壤中埋藏的木质物质的丰度和作用，特别是其对养分有效性的影响。这项工作得到加拿大自然资源有限公司的支持，将改进填海做法，并培训三名研究生和三名本科生。

The establishment of a functioning forest ecosystem after oil sands mining is a legislated requirement in the boreal forest region of northern Alberta. Applying appropriate land reclamation practices is critical to ensuring that the post-industrial land has an "equivalent land capability" to that of pre-disturbance. This project will quantify the impacts of three reclamation techniques, describe the ecological mechanisms responsible, and develop operational recommendations for implementation, thus contributing to improved land reclamation practices. We will establish three field based research studies to evaluate the impacts of different reclamation practices on trees, plants and soil. In the first study we will study how an integrated cover soil design where two different types of reclamation soils have been placed on a single reclamation site in a variety of patch sizes and arrangements affects the rate and extent of plant colonization and expansion across the different soil types. The second study will focus on the application of coarse woody debris in the in form of whole logs on the soil surface as a reclamation amendment. We will quantify the impact of logs place systematically across the landscape on the developing plant community and soil nutrients. The final study will describe the abundance and role of woody material buried in reclamation soils, specifically in relation to its impact on nutrient availability. This work is supported by Canadian Natural Resources Limited and will result in improved reclamation practices and the training of three graduate students and three undergraduate students.