Forest floor protection during drilling pad construction and its benefits for natural regeneration of native boreal forest vegetation

• Author / Creator

  Bachmann, Sascha

• I tested forest floor protection techniques in the construction and reclamation of
  temporary drilling pads to restore native boreal canopy and understory cover. By
  covering and delineating the forest floor I hoped to reduce damage to the
  vegetative propagule bank, so clonal species such as aspen (Populus tremuloides)
  can quickly re-establish from root sprouts after being cut on disturbed sites.
  These were compared to the current soil salvage and replacement operations,
  assessing density, height and survival of aspen regeneration, as well as
  associated understory cover and richness. After re-contouring and soil
  placement, I measured the extent of surface disturbance, slash cover, soil
  temperature, soil bulk density and nutrient status in the four treatments and
  control plots. Aspen and understory recovery was prolific in protected sites and
  exceeded that of salvaged sites. Only little soil compaction from covering and
  moderate soil surface disturbance in forest floor protection sites were detected.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Regeneration
  • Root suckering
  • Forest land restoration
  • Populus-tremuloides
  • Soil compaction
  • Understory
  • Disturbance

• Graduation date

  Spring 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3769H

• 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.