Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region
Abstract The Sandhill Wetland (SW) and Nikanotee Fen (NF) are two wetland research projects designed to test the viability of peatland reclamation in the Alberta oil sands post‐mining landscape. To identify effective approaches for establishing peat‐forming vegetation in reclaimed wetlands, we evalu...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.2929 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/eap.2929 |
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crwiley:10.1002/eap.2929 2024-06-02T08:05:14+00:00 Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David J. House, Melissa Vitt, Dale H. Colorado State University 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.2929 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/eap.2929 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Ecological Applications volume 34, issue 2 ISSN 1051-0761 1939-5582 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2929 2024-05-03T11:23:24Z Abstract The Sandhill Wetland (SW) and Nikanotee Fen (NF) are two wetland research projects designed to test the viability of peatland reclamation in the Alberta oil sands post‐mining landscape. To identify effective approaches for establishing peat‐forming vegetation in reclaimed wetlands, we evaluated how plant introduction approaches and water level gradients influence species distribution, plant community development, and the establishment of bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover. Plant introduction approaches included seeding with a Carex aquatilis ‐dominated seed mix, planting C. aquatilis and Juncus balticus seedlings, and spreading a harvested moss layer transfer. Establishment was assessed 6 years after the introduction at SW and 5 years after the introduction at NF. In total, 51 species were introduced to the reclaimed wetlands, and 122 species were observed after 5 and 6 years. The most abundant species in both reclaimed wetlands was C. aquatilis , which produced dense canopies and occupied the largest water level range of observed plants. Introducing C. aquatilis also helped to exclude marsh plants such as Typha latifolia that has little to no peat accumulation potential. Juncus balticus persisted where the water table was lower and encouraged the formation of a diverse peatland community and facilitated bryophyte establishment. Various bryophytes colonized suitable areas, but the moss layer transfer increased the cover of desirable peat‐forming mosses. Communities with the highest bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover (averaging 9 and 14 species, and 50%–160% cover respectively) occurred where the summer water level was between −10 and −40 cm. Outside this water level range, a marsh community of Typha latifolia dominated in standing water and a wet meadow upland community of Calamagrostis canadensis and woody species established where the water table was deeper. Overall, the two wetland reclamation projects demonstrated that establishing peat‐forming vascular plants and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Carex aquatilis Wiley Online Library Ecological Applications 34 2 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
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English |
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Abstract The Sandhill Wetland (SW) and Nikanotee Fen (NF) are two wetland research projects designed to test the viability of peatland reclamation in the Alberta oil sands post‐mining landscape. To identify effective approaches for establishing peat‐forming vegetation in reclaimed wetlands, we evaluated how plant introduction approaches and water level gradients influence species distribution, plant community development, and the establishment of bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover. Plant introduction approaches included seeding with a Carex aquatilis ‐dominated seed mix, planting C. aquatilis and Juncus balticus seedlings, and spreading a harvested moss layer transfer. Establishment was assessed 6 years after the introduction at SW and 5 years after the introduction at NF. In total, 51 species were introduced to the reclaimed wetlands, and 122 species were observed after 5 and 6 years. The most abundant species in both reclaimed wetlands was C. aquatilis , which produced dense canopies and occupied the largest water level range of observed plants. Introducing C. aquatilis also helped to exclude marsh plants such as Typha latifolia that has little to no peat accumulation potential. Juncus balticus persisted where the water table was lower and encouraged the formation of a diverse peatland community and facilitated bryophyte establishment. Various bryophytes colonized suitable areas, but the moss layer transfer increased the cover of desirable peat‐forming mosses. Communities with the highest bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover (averaging 9 and 14 species, and 50%–160% cover respectively) occurred where the summer water level was between −10 and −40 cm. Outside this water level range, a marsh community of Typha latifolia dominated in standing water and a wet meadow upland community of Calamagrostis canadensis and woody species established where the water table was deeper. Overall, the two wetland reclamation projects demonstrated that establishing peat‐forming vascular plants and ... |
author2 |
Colorado State University |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David J. House, Melissa Vitt, Dale H. |
spellingShingle |
Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David J. House, Melissa Vitt, Dale H. Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region |
author_facet |
Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David J. House, Melissa Vitt, Dale H. |
author_sort |
Borkenhagen, Andrea |
title |
Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region |
title_short |
Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region |
title_full |
Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region |
title_fullStr |
Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Establishing peat‐forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region |
title_sort |
establishing peat‐forming plant communities: a comparison of wetland reclamation methods in alberta's oil sands region |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.2929 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/eap.2929 |
genre |
Carex aquatilis |
genre_facet |
Carex aquatilis |
op_source |
Ecological Applications volume 34, issue 2 ISSN 1051-0761 1939-5582 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2929 |
container_title |
Ecological Applications |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1800750030651392000 |