Insects on the Suncor dike, a survey of the types present and an evaluation of their effects on dike vegetation

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Hilchie, G. J.
  • Ryan, J. K.

• An insect survey of the Suncor dike showed that these animals were abundant. Representatives of 50 insect families were collected in sweep net samples, and additional families were observed to be present. Grasshoppers belonging to at least five different species were collected, as were herbivorous cicadellid and cercopid bugs, chloropid flies, and other herbivorous insects. The biomass ratio of carnivorous arthropods/potential prey insects (95% herbivores) in sweep samples was 0.11, indicating a heavy balance of herbivorous insects. Insect attacks were considered to be tolerable on most deciduous trees, but were more severe on conifer trees. Water stress appeared to be the greatest tree mortality factor.

• Date created

  1980

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Oil Sands
  • AOSERP
  • AOSERP LS 28.1.3
  • Surveys
  • Oil sands
  • Tar Sands
  • Tar sands
  • Insects
  • Alberta
  • Canada, Alberta, Fort McMurray

• Type of Item

  Report

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3MG7G24J

• License

  This material is provided under educational reproduction permissions included in Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development's Copyright and Disclosure Statement, see terms at http://www.environment.alberta.ca/copyright.html. This Statement requires the following identification: \"The source of the materials is Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development http://www.environment.gov.ab.ca/. The use of these materials by the end user is done without any affiliation with or endorsement by the Government of Alberta. Reliance upon the end user's use of these materials is at the risk of the end user.