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Fall 2023

Hynes, Brittany E

The redevelopment of understories is an often-overlooked aspect of forest restoration following anthropogenic disturbances. In my research I explored the feasibility of actively restoring forest understories through seedling planting. First, I examined the quality of nursery-grown boreal shrub...

Spring 2020

Hudson, Jessica Jacquelene

Herbaceous forbs hitchhiked, or co-grown, with a woody species, is a solution to establish both native woody and herbaceous species at recently disturbed sites. The broad study objectives were to (1) assess the growth of fireweed hitchhiked with three deciduous woody species and one conifer over...

Spring 2018

deBortoli, Leah A.

Reclamation efforts that promote the re-establishment of native tree and plant communities subsequent of large-scale oil sands mining land disturbances are crucial in restoring natural ecosystems. It is important that reclamation procedures capable of facilitating the establishment of native...

Fall 2020

Brown, Nicholas

While bitumen is one of the oldest construction materials in the world and currently provides an important fuel needed to sustain our modern lifestyle, the disturbances caused by extracting and refining this material are considerable, with 895 km2 of land being disturbed in Alberta as of 2018...

Fall 2018

Valek, Erika Rovena

Forest reclamation sites are often located in areas not suited for agriculture and therefore have poor soil conditions. To assist in the rehabilitation of forests on these types of sites, organic amendments can be used. Close to large urban centers, compost derived from municipal organic waste...

Fall 2010

Caners, Richard T.

This thesis examined the efficacy of residual forest structure for the preservation and recovery of bryophytes five to six years after partial canopy harvest in boreal mixed-wood forests of northwestern Alberta, Canada. Bryophytes were sampled in two forest types that differed in pre-harvest...

Fall 2015

Odsen, Sonya G.

The Canadian boreal forest is vital breeding habitat for North American songbirds. Extensive anthropogenic disturbances within this biome are therefore of conservation concern. Using unharvested stands as controls, I examined the effects of variable retention management (VRM) relative to...

Spring 2017

Frerichs, Laurie Anne

Achieving forest recovery on previously forested well sites in northern Alberta is an on-going challenge for the oil and gas industry. Thirty-three experimental oil sands exploration (OSE) sites were constructed and reclaimed between 2004 and 2006 in northeastern Alberta. Our goal was to...

Spring 2022

Ficko, Sarah A.

Resource exploration and extraction in the arctic causes long lasting disturbances as natural recovery is a long and slow process in the north. With three Canadian diamond mines expected to close in the next fifteen years, many hectares of land will require revegetating. Research conducted in the...

Spring 2018

Ramnarine, Sheryl A

Oils sands exploration (OSE) sites associated with in situ oil sands development are required to evaluate and delineate oil resources. Once these sites are cleared and disturbed for exploration, they can result in habitat disturbance and fragmentation, invasion of weed species, changes to surface...