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Spring 2018

Xu, Feng

High soil pH can aggravate the effects of water deficit stress, inhibit root growth, and reduce the availability of essential elements to plants, especially iron. Iron deficiency can severely decrease plant growth and yield and result in plant mortality. In my study, I examined the effects of...

Spring 2017

Pokharel, Prem

Revegetation in the oil sands mining areas in northern Alberta has often been difficult because of high mortality and slow growth of planted seedlings on reclaimed soils. Growth of the planted seedlings is limited by low nutrient and water availability in the soil on reclaimed sites. Management...

Fall 2017

Echiverri, Laureen F. I.

For the purpose of informing biodiversity conservation efforts in managed landscapes, we explored whether and how understory plant communities (abundance, diversity, composition) were related to a topographic moisture index, called depth-to-water, in the boreal mixedwood forests of northwestern...

Spring 2018

Mathison, Adam L

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 “Hitchhiker Planting” which is similar to companion cropping in agriculture, with the goal of improving native forb...

Spring 2018

Bockstette, Simon W

Tree root systems are incredibly complex organs that fulfill several vital functions, the main ones being anchorage and uptake of water and mineral elements. They perform these functions in a highly complex and challenging soil environment with heterogeneously distributed soil resources, physical...

Fall 2017

Robinson, Matthew P

Many aquatic-breeding amphibians require freshwater habitat for reproduction and terrestrial habitat for refuge, foraging, and overwintering. Variable retention harvesting is a technique where live trees and other forest features are retained during timber harvesting in patterns that emulate...

Spring 2018

Robinne, François-Nicolas

Water security is one of the main paradigms presently shaping global water governance. At its very core, water security aims at preserving freshwater resources from any form of risk, natural or human-caused, that could imperil or further delay the stability and the sustainability of societies and...

Spring 2018

Scott, Natalie M

The symbiosis between trees and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) is essential for tree establishment and survival in the boreal forest because it is a disturbance prone ecosystem characterized by long harsh winters and low nutrient mobility. Ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition can be...

Fall 2017

Melnik, Katharine O

Legacy propagule banks of salvaged topsoils are excellent sources of plant propagules for reclamation of mine sites. However, prior studies show that less than 50% of species found in original propagule banks actually establish. We hypothesize that the expression of this legacy propagule bank is...

Spring 2018

Belanger, Robert J

Understanding the distribution of forage is important in predicting the distribution, habitat use (behaviour), movements, and fitness-related traits of large, grazing ungulates. Although this bottom-up perspective provides a foundation for understanding habitat supply and thus nutrition, foraging...