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Fall 2016

Thayer, Donnette

Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque 1817) have experienced population declines throughout their range. In Alberta, low density age-class distributions, irregular recruitment, critically low spawning potential ratios and other factors led to a 2007 designation of “Threatened” for this...

Fall 2015

Howell, Daniel Mark

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...

Fall 2020

Collins, Catherine

Alberta’s oil sands generate large volumes of tailings from bitumen ore processing. These tailings ponds produce biogenic methane, which can be measured across 60-80% of the tailings surface. Based on current surface area data and emissions studies, tailings ponds could account for 8% of Canada’s...

Spring 2013

MacKenzie, Dean D

A major barrier to reclamation after oil sands mining is lack of commercially available, diverse native plant seeds and propagules for revegetation. Potential of LFH (forest floor material) developed on coarse textured soil for establishing native plants and how salvage, placement and storage...

Fall 2020

Trepanier, Kaitlyn E

Oil sands mining is a significant disturbance in the Canadian boreal forest. One objective for reclamation after mining is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, which includes establishing a native plant community. For this thesis, study one evaluates the different plant assembly mechanisms,...

Spring 2011

Frederick, Kurt R.

Biofilms are significant contributors to primary production, nutrient cycling, bio-stabilization and the food web of wetland ecosystems. Photoautotrophic biomass (PB) and primary production (PP) were determined for biofilms exposed to various treatments and materials in wetlands near Fort...

Fall 2016

Denny, Catherine K

Spatial heterogeneity inherent in the environment influences how animals respond to their surroundings, especially as it relates to the variability of their food resources. Heterogeneity in specific elements of vegetation, such as the spatial pattern of a single plant species, can be defined...

Fall 2015

Das Gupta, Sanatan

The recent open pit mining for oil sands in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR), northern Alberta has created an unprecedented industrial scale disturbance whose ecological consequences is not well understood, and requires intensive investigation. This study focused on the temporal dynamics of...

Spring 2023

Aasberg, Sophie

Microsite heterogeneity is an important variable that drives biodiversity in forests. Current forest reclamation practices often do not incorporate site heterogeneity in their practices which might pose a challenge to the reclamation goals of restoring disturbed sites to resilient and sustainable...