Restoration and Reclamation of Boreal Ecosystems : Attaining Sustainable Development

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Restoration and Reclamation of Boreal Ecosystems: Attaining Sustainable Development
Title
Copyright
Contents
Contributors
EDITORS
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Preface
Part I Utilizing natural regimes as models for reclamation and restoration
1 The changing boreal forest: Incorporating ecological theory into restoration planning
INTRODUCTION
A FRAMEWORK
POSSIBLE FUTURE SURPRISES AND THE PATH FORWARD
REFERENCES
2 Disturbance and the peatland carbon sink in the Oil Sands Administrative Area
INTRODUCTION
PEATLAND CARBON AND WILDFIRE
PEATLAND CARBON AND DROUGHT
PEATLAND CARBON AND OIL SANDS DEVELOPMENT
REFERENCES
3 Regional-scale modeling of greenhouse gas fluxes
INTRODUCTION
SPECIFICS OF BOREAL AREAS AS SEEN BY MODELERS
OBSERVATIONS: THE FIRST PREMISE OF MODELING
A GREENHOUSE GAS MODELING SYSTEM
Weather research and forecasting model
Vegetation photosynthesis and respiration model
Initial and boundary conditions
Anthropogenic emissions
MODEL VERIFICATION AND INVERSE MODELING
Model verification
Data assimilation
Inverse modeling
A CASE STUDY: SIMULATION FOR NORTHERN ALBERTA
Comparison of the model with tower measurements
Comparison of the model with satellite measurements
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
4 Reclamation and restoration of boreal ecosystems: attaining sustainable development: Modeling and mapping vegetation type by soil moisture regime across boreal landscapes
INTRODUCTION
METHODOLOGY
Field calibrations and mapping
Delineating flow channels, wet areas, and the cartographic depth-to-water index
Vegetation index modeling
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Plot-based surveys and VI mapping
Reclamation and restoration applications
Model generalizations
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
5 Fundamental paradigms, foundation species selection, and early plant responses to peatland initiation on mineral soils
INTRODUCTION
DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN CANADIAN BOREAL LANDSCAPE
THE HISTORICAL PARADIGM AND PEATLAND INITIATION
Methods
Results and discussion
HABITAT PARAMETERS OF A KEY FOUNDATION SPECIES
QUANTIFYING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FOUNDATIONAL SPECIES CAREX AQUATILIS
Methods
Results and discussion
Community data
Environmental data
Implications for reclamation
YEAR THREE PLANT RESPONSES TO PEATLAND RECLAMATION ON MINERAL SOILS
Methods for peatland reclamation on mineral soils
Peatland reclamation on mineral soils: results and discussion
Moving toward practical application: seeding and germination success in 2009
Seeding experiment results and discussion
SUMMARY
REFERENCES
Part II The challenges of reclamation in boreal ecosystems
6 Advances in oil sands tailings handling: building the base for reclamation
INTRODUCTION
DISCUSSION
Consolidated, composite, or nonsegregating tailings
Mature fine tailings drying/dewatering
Rim ditching
Centrifugation
Directive 74
Water chemistry implications of tailings management options
Implications of tailings management options for tailings pond areas/volumes
SUMMARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
7 Rebuilding boreal forest ecosystems after industrial disturbance
INTRODUCTION
PATTERN AND PROCESS IN BOREAL FORESTS: LEARNING FROM NATURE
Pedogenesis in natural boreal forests
Forest canopy composition and dynamics
Understory plant communities
Soil–vegetation relationships
REBUILDING BOREAL ECOSYSTEMS
Reconstructing functioning boreal forest soils
Rebuilding boreal forest vegetation
Understory plant communities
Soil–vegetation relationships of reclaimed sites
CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
8 Designing landscapes to support peatland development on soft tailings deposits: Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s Sandhill Fen Research Watershed Initiative
INTRODUCTION
APPROACH
WATERSHED LOCATION
Site hydrology
Seepage water quality
DESIGN COMPONENTS
Hummocks and topography
Water supply
Salinity control
Cover soils
Initial water
Vegetation introduction
ONGOING AND FUTURE RESEARCH
Responses to peat placement and process water (trials: 2008–2011)
VEGETATION RESEARCH AT SANDHILL FEN
Upland forests
Wetlands
Carbon and water balance research
Hydrology and hydrogeology research
Interactive Sandhill Fen Research/monitoring data system
CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
9 Initiatives in oil sand reclamation: Considerations for building a fen peatland in a post-mined oil sands landscape
INTRODUCTION
SUNCOR PILOT FEN WATERSHED PROGRAM
RESTORATION AND RECLAMATION HYDROLOGY
OIL SANDS PROCESS WATER, SODIUM AND NAPHTHENIC ACIDS TRANSPORT THROUGH PEAT, AND THE IMPACT ON FEN VEGETATION
Adsorption and dispersion of oil sands process-affected water in peat
Response of moss and vascular plants to oil sands process water
SUNCOR FEN SITE INVESTIGATION, DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REVEGETATION, AND MONITORING
Site investigation
Fen watershed design
Fen watershed construction
Revegetating the Suncor fen watershed
Fen planting strategies
Upland planting prescriptions
Research and monitoring in the Suncor fen watershed
LOOKING FORWARD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
10 Plant community recovery on “minimum disturbance" petroleum sites compared to burned sites in bogs of northern Alberta
INTRODUCTION
METHODS
Site selection
Experimental design
Vegetation and floristic surveys
Environmental variables
Statistical analysis
RESULTS
Natural bogs
Burned bogs
Species return after wildfire in burned stands
Minimum disturbance
Species return after disturbance in minimum disturbance stands: poor fens
Species return after disturbance in minimum disturbance stands: rich fens
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
11 Oil sands reclamation and the projected development of wildlife habitat attributes
INTRODUCTION
METHODS
Study area
THE FORECAST MODEL
SELECTION OF WILDLIFE SPECIES
VARIABLES COMMON TO MOST OF THE HABITAT SUITABILITY MODELS
MODEL APPLICATION
Development of stand attribute tables
Landscape scale analysis
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Habitat suitability indices by ecosite phase
Habitat units by ecosite and reclamation period
Comparing habitat units between the natural and mining scenarios
SUMMARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
APPENDIX 11.1. SPECIES-SPECIFIC HABITAT SUITABILITY MODELS
Moose (Alces alces)
Black bear (Ursus americanus)
Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus)
Lynx (Lynx canadensis)
Red-backed vole (Myodes rutilus)
Fisher (Martes pennanti)
Cape May warbler (Dendroica tigrina)
Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus)
Pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
REFERENCES
12 Restoration of peatlands after peat extraction: Impacts, restoration goals, and techniques
INTRODUCTION
SCOPE AND TOPICS OF THIS CHAPTER
PEAT EXTRACTION
HOW PEAT EXTRACTION IMPACTS PEATLANDS
Drainage and removal of acrotelm
Increase in pH and peat contamination from mineral soil
Surface instability
RESTORATION GOALS
RESTORATION TECHNIQUES
Bog restoration
Vegetation introduction
Application of mulch and nurse plants
Rewetting
Monitoring
FEN RESTORATION
Vegetation introduction
Application of mulch
Rewetting
Can these techniques be transferred to other disturbances?
CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
13 Importance of microbes in peatland dynamics, restoration, and reclamation
INTRODUCTION
MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN NATURAL PEATLANDS
Vertical stratification of microbial communities and carbon cycling in peatlands
Recycling of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur by microorganisms in peatlands
Microbial communities along the ombrotrophic–minerotrophic gradient
DISTURBANCES AND MICROORGANISMS IN PEATLANDS
Impact of fires on microorganisms in peatlands
Peat extraction and mining
INTEGRATING MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN THE MONITORING OF RESTORED PEATLANDS
How bog restoration modifies microbial communities
Microbial communities in the oil sand contaminated areas
GLOBAL CHANGE AND MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES
Elevated carbon dioxide, temperatures, and atmospheric deposition
Response of microbial communities to long- and short-term lowering of the water table position
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
REFERENCES
Part III Carbon in the boreal forest
14 Carbon and nitrogen stocks in western boreal forest ecosystems
INTRODUCTION
METHODS
Description of the databases
Annual biomass increment estimate
Estimation of aboveground net primary productivity
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Aboveground biomass, biomass increment, and aboveground net primary productivity
Forest floor carbon and nitrogen stocks
Soil carbon and nitrogen content
Implications for severe disturbances and climate change
REFERENCES
15 Projected patterns of carbon storage in upland forests reclaimed after oil sands mining
INTRODUCTION
METHODS
Objective 1: compare FORECAST’s projections of carbon accrual in an aspen-dominated stand with empirical measures
Objective 2: compare FORECAST’s projections of carbon accrual in a reclaimed aspen-dominated stand and its natural analogue
Objective 3: project the carbon balance associated with progressive reclamation across the Kearl Lake mine footprint
RESULTS
Objective 1: compare FORECAST’s projections of carbon accrual in an aspen-dominated stand with empirical measures
Objective 2: compare FORECAST’s projections of carbon accrual in a reclaimed aspen-dominated stand and its natural analogue
Objective 3: project the carbon balance associated with progressive reclamation across the Kearl Lake mine footprint
DISCUSSION
Comparing FORECAST’s projections of carbon accrual in an aspen-dominated stand with empirical measures
Comparing FORECAST’s projections of carbon accrual in a reclaimed aspen-dominated stand and its natural analogue
Projecting the carbon balance across the Kearl Lake mine footprint
SUMMARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
16 The business of carbon
INTRODUCTION
THE UNDERPINNINGS OF A CARBON MARKET
Creating a market for carbon
Tradable carbon units
Government policy and markets for carbon
The benefits of ecosystem-based carbon offsets
Putting a price on ecosystem carbon
CARBON OFFSET MARKETS AND THE BUYERS OF CARBON
Market categories
Voluntary market
Regulatory/compliance market
Pre-compliance market
Current carbon offset market scale
What is driving current market demand?
FOREST CARBON PROJECTS AS EMERGING BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
What makes a carbon offset marketable or saleable?
Forest carbon offset project types
Carbon standards
Financial opportunities in ecosystem-based carbon projects
Carbon prices
Challenges
Ownership
Moving goalposts in carbon standards and government policy
Attracting capital to uncertainty
Planning and commitment time horizon
Market or pricing uncertainty
CASE STUDY
The Darkwoods Carbon Project: carbon as conservation asset financing
Background
Development timeline
Development costs
Revenues
Financial returns
1. Key metrics
2. Key financial results
Summary
Variations on this case study
IMPLICATIONS FOR PEATLAND AND WETLAND RECLAMATION
OTHER ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
SUMMARY
REFERENCES
17 Effects of peat extraction and restoration on greenhouse gas exchange from Canadian peatlands
INTRODUCTION
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ACCOUNTING FOR PEAT EXTRACTION ACTIVITIES
EFFECT OF PEAT EXTRACTION ON GREENHOUSE GAS EXCHANGE
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM ABANDONED PEATLANDS
EFFECT OF PEATLAND RESTORATION ON GREEN HOUSE GAS EXCHANGE
POTENTIAL METHODS FOR REDUCING LAND-USE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
Index