Search
Skip to Search Results- 1Abele, Suzanne E
- 1Amoako, Kwaku Akrofi
- 1Amos, Jared J. H.
- 1Annich, Natasha C
- 1Archibald, Heather Anne
- 1Bakker, Nicola A. K.
-
Improving forb establishment and restoring soil function in disturbed landscapes: Hitchhiking native forbs with white spruce
DownloadSpring 2018
Changing requirements for land reclamation in Alberta has led to the need for revegetation of disturbed lands with native woody and herbaceous species. Our study involves âHitchhiker Plantingâ which is similar to companion cropping in agriculture, with the goal of improving native forb...
-
Influence of Amendments and Soil Depth on Available Nutrients and Microbial Dynamics in Contrasting Topsoil Materials Used for Oil Sands Reclamation
DownloadFall 2015
As of December 2013, the cumulative area disturbed by oil sands mining in NE Alberta was 896 km2 out of an estimated final footprint of 4,800 km2 – all of which will require reclamation. Expensive handling costs and scarce soil resources necessitate judicious management and application of...
-
Influence of Environmental and Site Factors and Biotic Interactions on Vegetation Development Following Surface Mine Reclamation Using Coversoil Salvaged From Forest Sites
DownloadSpring 2017
Industrial activities such as surface mining are responsible for disturbing large areas of forest land. Reclamation methods must facilitate the development of soil, of a diverse natural understory plant community, and of a tree canopy. In my thesis research, I examined the response of vegetation...
-
Influence of forest canopies on the deposition of methylmercury to boreal ecosystem watersheds
DownloadFall 2010
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a potent vertebrate neurotoxin and a contaminant of global concern. Increased anthropogenic emissions of mercury (Hg) to the atmosphere have led to increased bioaccumulation of MeHg in top predatory organisms such as fish, the consumption of which is the main exposure...
-
Influence of Soil Cap Depth and Vegetation on Reclamation of Phosphogypsum Stacks in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
DownloadSpring 2013
This study quantified environmental parameters to develop reclamation strategies for phosphogypsum stacks. Research was conducted on phosphogypsum stack experimental plots established in 2006 (6 soil cap depths, 5 vegetation treatments), and soil capped slopes seeded in 1998. Significant root...
-
Interactions between the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria Hubner) and its natural enemies: the effects of forest composition and implications for outbreak spread
DownloadFall 2011
Forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria Hübner; FTC), a major defoliator of aspen trees, occupies both aspen and mixedwood forest stands in Alberta’s boreal forest. Forest stand composition could influence the spatial pattern of FTC outbreaks if mortality from natural enemies differs...
-
Long Term Effects of Wildfire on Permafrost Stability and Carbon Cycling in Northern Peatlands
DownloadFall 2017
Changing fire dynamics and increasing global temperatures are causing changes to the fire regime and permafrost stability in the Arctic. Models have separately predicted the widespread thawing of permafrost and increasing magnitude and intensity of wildfires over the next century. However, while...
-
Mapping a Species-level Trophic and Non-trophic Multilayer Network of Known Interactions for Boreal Tetrapods of North America
DownloadFall 2021
Mapping trophic and non-trophic species interactions and mapping ecosystem-wide ecological networks have become important research avenues in network ecology, but until recently these two avenues have been separate endeavors. Now, a framework exists to combine multiple interaction types into...
-
Marsh reclamation in the oil sands of Alberta: providing benchmarks and models of vegetation development
DownloadFall 2014
A key objective of the Alberta oil sands industry is to reclaim the post-mined landscape to “equivalent land capability” (Harris 2007). Vitt and Bhatti (2012) proposed a restoration framework for boreal disturbances. They suggested that to increase chances of achieving ecosystem equivalency and...