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Skip to Search Results- 1Archibald, Heather Anne
- 1Bony, Laura
- 1Brown, Nicholas
- 1Brown, Robyn L.
- 1Buss, Jennifer
- 1Cartier, Sarah B.
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Fall 2023
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...
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An Alternate Indicator System for Nutrient Supply as Part of Ecosystem Function, a Component of Reclamation Success in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region
DownloadFall 2017
Northeastern Alberta faces the challenges of reclaiming a vast area that has been disturbed my oil sands mining, cumulatively 896 km2 and increasing as of December 2013. The limited resources available for reclamation and expensive costs of undertaking the process necessitates that reclamation be...
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An evaluation of hitchhiker seedlings with native boreal species as a revegetation tool of industrially disturbed sites in Alberta, Canada
DownloadSpring 2020
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...
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An Investigation of Potential Weed Management Practices and Multivariate Assessment Parameters for Alberta's Oil Sands Reclamation Efforts
DownloadSpring 2018
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...
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Assessing the long-term impact of acid deposition and the risk of soil acidification in boreal forests in the Athabasca oil sands region in Alberta, Canada
DownloadFall 2012
Significant amounts of SO2 and NOx have been emitted from the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR) in Alberta, Canada, in the past several decades. The impact of acid deposition on forest ecosystems and the risk of soil acidification were assessed in jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and trembling aspen...
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Biodegradation of Hydrocarbons in Bitumen: Exploring Plant-Assisted and Microbial Stimulation Techniques
DownloadFall 2020
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...
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Challenges of utilizing municipal compost as an amendment in boreal forest reclamation subsoil material
DownloadFall 2018
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...
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Spring 2017
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...
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Development Of Shrub And Lichen-Dominated Biocrust Propagation And Establishment Techniques For Reclamation In Northern Environments
DownloadSpring 2022
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...
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Spring 2014
Peat mineral soil mix has been the predominant cover soil used in Athabasca oil sands reclamation. Use of LFH mineral soil mix (forest litter layers and underlying mineral soil) has recently been mandated by regulatory approvals. Effectiveness of these cover soil types to provide diverse, native...