Responses of reclamation plants to enhanced non-segregated tailings

由于土地扰动的严重性和复垦植物具有挑战性的生长条件，油砂开采复垦极具挑战性。受干扰的地区包括油砂尾矿，这对重新植被工作构成了额外的挑战。尾矿通常含有可能对植物有害的化合物。为了应对这些挑战，加拿大自然资源有限公司（CNRL）一直在研究新的方法，旨在尽量减少尾矿对复垦地区植物的影响。这些努力导致了新型尾矿技术的最新发展。这些新的尾矿被称为增强非分离尾矿（eNST）和增强掺加非分离尾矿（esNST）。虽然这些尾矿对工业生产具有重要的优势，但这种新型尾矿技术的组成对将种植在尾矿顶部的土壤覆盖层中的植物群落的生长的潜在影响。在拟议项目中，我们将表征eNST和esNST尾矿的化学和物理性质，并在受控环境条件下研究它们对油砂复垦常用植物生长和生理过程的影响。我们还将比较eNST和esNST沉积物和释放沃茨对植物存活、生长和生理反应的影响。 这项研究的主要目的是产生知识，需要制定最佳的战略，为填海eNST尾矿。该研究的具体目标是：1）表征植物短期暴露于eNST尾矿的影响和潜在毒性，并将其与eNST尾矿的影响进行比较，2）深入了解eNST中可能对植物生长和存活产生不利影响的因素，和3）检查eNST尾矿对外生菌根和杜鹃花菌根协会的影响，这对于复垦区植物的生存是必不可少的。该项目将培养两名硕士生，三名本科暑期学生（每年一名本科生）和一名博士后研究助理。

Oil sands mining reclamation is highly challenging due to the severity of land disturbance and challenging growth conditions for reclamation plants. The disturbed areas include oil sands tailings, which pose additional challenge for the revegetation efforts. The tailings have commonly elevated levels of compounds that may be harmful to plants. To deal with these challenges, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) has been working on new approaches that are intended to minimize the effects of tailings on plants in reclaimed areas. These efforts have resulted in a recent development of the novel tailings technology. These novel tailings are referred to as enhanced non-segregated tailings (eNST) and enhanced-spiked non-segregated tailings (esNST). Although these tailings have important advantages to the industrial production, the potential impact of the composition of this novel tailings technology on the growth of plant communities that will be planted in soil capping layers on top of the tailings. In the proposed project, we will characterize the chemical and physical properties of eNST and esNST tailings and study under controlled-environment conditions, their effects on growth and physiological processes in plants that are commonly used for oil sands reclamation. We will also compare the effects of eNST and esNST deposits and release waters on plant survival, growth, and physiological responses. The main objective of the study is to generate knowledge that is required to develop optimal strategies for the reclamation eNST tailings. The specific objectives of the study are to 1) characterize the effects and potential toxicity of short-term exposure of plants to eNST tailings and compare them with the effects of esNST tailings, 2) develop a thorough understanding of the factors in eNST that may adversely affect plant growth and survival, and 3) examine the impact of eNST tailings on ectomycorrhizal and ericoid mycorrhizal associations that are essential for the survival of plants in reclamation areas. The project will train two MSc students, three undergraduate summer students (one undergraduate student per year of the study), and a postdoctoral research associate.