- 418 views
- 338 downloads
Restoring Native Grassland Function in Urban Environment: Implications for Soil-Plant Relations
-
- Author / Creator
- Amini, Seyedeharezoo
-
The area of rough fescue prairie has been reduced in Western Canada because of human activities. Larch Park is an Edmonton residential development area to which land reclamation and restoration ecology have been applied to rebuild natural grasslands instead of turf grasses. By using salvaged soil, planting native communities, and adding biochar we expected ecosystem function and services in reclaimed site to be more similar to natural grassland site. A greenhouse study was also conducted to examine the effects of biochar and native species on soil processes. Disturbance followed by land reclamation at Larch Park caused drastic changes in soil processes including higher nitrogen availability, lower microbial biomass, and lower visual variability of microbial community structure. Greenhouse results showed stimulatory effects of native species on microbial biomass and respiration, and decreasing impact on nitrogen availability. The results also indicated that biochar had some significant interaction effect on soil-plant processes.
-
- Subjects / Keywords
-
- Graduation date
- Fall 2013
-
- Type of Item
- Thesis
-
- Degree
- Master of Science
-
- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.