Establishing peat-forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region
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...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Zenodo
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb5xb |
id |
ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:8367189 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:8367189 2024-09-15T18:01:43+00:00 Establishing peat-forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David House, Melissa Vitt, Dale 2023-09-21 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb5xb unknown Zenodo https://zenodo.org/communities/dryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb5xb oai:zenodo.org:8367189 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode Boreal vegetation peatland Carex aquatilis Juncus balticus reclamation wetland moss moss layer Alberta oilsands info:eu-repo/semantics/other 2023 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb5xb 2024-07-27T02:11:23Z 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 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 J. balticus seedlings, and spreading a harvested moss layer transfer. Establishment was assessed six years after introduction at SW and five years after introduction at NF. A total of 51 species were introduced to the reclaimed wetlands, and 122 species were observed after five and six 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 formation of a diverse peatland community and facilitated bryophyte establishment. Various bryophytes colonized suitable areas, but the moss layer transfer increased cover of desirable peat-forming mosses. Communities with the highest bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover (averaging 9 and 14 species, and 50% to 160% cover respectively) occurred where 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 bryophytes is possible, and ... Other/Unknown Material Carex aquatilis Zenodo |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Zenodo |
op_collection_id |
ftzenodo |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Boreal vegetation peatland Carex aquatilis Juncus balticus reclamation wetland moss moss layer Alberta oilsands |
spellingShingle |
Boreal vegetation peatland Carex aquatilis Juncus balticus reclamation wetland moss moss layer Alberta oilsands Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David House, Melissa Vitt, Dale Establishing peat-forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region |
topic_facet |
Boreal vegetation peatland Carex aquatilis Juncus balticus reclamation wetland moss moss layer Alberta oilsands |
description |
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 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 J. balticus seedlings, and spreading a harvested moss layer transfer. Establishment was assessed six years after introduction at SW and five years after introduction at NF. A total of 51 species were introduced to the reclaimed wetlands, and 122 species were observed after five and six 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 formation of a diverse peatland community and facilitated bryophyte establishment. Various bryophytes colonized suitable areas, but the moss layer transfer increased cover of desirable peat-forming mosses. Communities with the highest bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover (averaging 9 and 14 species, and 50% to 160% cover respectively) occurred where 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 bryophytes is possible, and ... |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David House, Melissa Vitt, Dale |
author_facet |
Borkenhagen, Andrea Cooper, David House, Melissa Vitt, Dale |
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 |
Zenodo |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb5xb |
genre |
Carex aquatilis |
genre_facet |
Carex aquatilis |
op_relation |
https://zenodo.org/communities/dryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb5xb oai:zenodo.org:8367189 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb5xb |
_version_ |
1810438809659113472 |