Early successional plant community dynamics on a reclaimed oil sands mine in comparison with natural boreal forest communities

Errington, Ruth C.; Pinno, Bradley D.

doi:10.1080/11956860.2016.1169385

Cited by 35 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…It also appears that competition between plants is not a major component in determining community composition in this forest given the low overall vegetation cover (16%˘4% (mean˘SE) in high severity burns) and the corresponding high level of bare ground, again indicating that environmental and not internal controls (i.e., competition) are mainly responsible for controlling plant community development. In contrast, after the same fire event, mesic boreal mixedwood sites had much greater vegetation cover and species richness [22] indicative of higher competition levels among plants and suggesting that this xeric jack pine forest responds differently to fire than do nearby mesic forests.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…This is comparable to more forb-rich aspen stands of the region, which were found to have pH (˘SE) values of 5.28˘0.33 and 4.77˘0.19 for mature and post-fire stands, respectively [22]. The lack of response to burn severity may reflect the vegetative regeneration strategy of many common perennial forb species, including the species most abundant on high pH soils, Maianthemum canadense and Cornus canadensis [44,45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Most studies on forest understory plant community response to disturbance focus on vascular plants [20][21][22], which are the dominant plant groups in most mesic boreal forests and are more responsive to disturbance than non-vascular species [8]. However, in harsh environments within the boreal forest, such as the xeric jack pine-dominated forests that are the focus of this study, non-vascular lichens and bryophytes are a more significant component [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

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Burn Severity Dominates Understory Plant Community Response to Fire in Xeric Jack Pine Forests

Pinno

Errington

2016

Forests

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Abstract:Fire is the most common disturbance in northern boreal forests, and large fires are often associated with highly variable burn severities across the burnt area. We studied the understory plant community response to a range of burn severities and pre-fire stand age four growing seasons after the 2011 Richardson Fire in xeric jack pine forests of northern Alberta, Canada. Burn severity had the greatest impact on post-fire plant communities, while pre-fire stand age did not have a significant impact. Total plant species richness and cover decreased with disturbance severity, such that the greatest richness was in low severity burns (average 28 species per 1-m 2 quadrat) and plant cover was lowest in the high severity burns (average 16%). However, the response of individual plant groups differed. Lichens and bryophytes were most common in low severity burns and were effectively eliminated from the regenerating plant community at higher burn severities. In contrast, graminoid cover and richness were positively related to burn severity, while forbs did not respond significantly to burn severity, but were impacted by changes in soil chemistry with increased cover at pH >4.9. Our results indicate the importance of non-vascular plants to the overall plant community in this harsh environment and that the plant community is environmentally limited rather than recruitment or competition limited, as is often the case in more mesic forest types. If fire frequency and severity increase as predicted, we may see a shift in plant communities from stress-tolerant species, such as lichens and ericaceous shrubs, to more colonizing species, such as certain graminoids.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

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Burn Severity Dominates Understory Plant Community Response to Fire in Xeric Jack Pine Forests

Pinno

Errington

2016

Forests

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“…This reclamation soil type has high organic matter and an associated high water holding capacity, which results in high natural tree seeding establishment [15] but lower native plant establishment due to its lowland origin [16]. The FFMM is derived from upland forest sites and consists of the forest floor organic layer and the underlying A and B horizons salvaged to a depth of approximately 0.3 m. This reclamation soil has a high native plant establishment as a biological legacy of the previous forest soil propagule bank [16,17] and a nutrient regime that is more similar to natural forest soils than PMM [18]. The reclamation site was aerially fertilized with 100 kg N ha −1 (equivalent N: 29.9-9.1-9.1-9.1 NPKS) and applied in both 2011 and 2012, which resulted in a total N application of 200 kg ha −1 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coarse Woody Debris as a Land Reclamation Amendment at an Oil Sands Mining Operation in Boreal Alberta, Canada

Pinno

Gupta

2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an important component of natural forests and is now being used in reclaiming oil sands land to control erosion, enhance diversity, and function as longer term storage of organic matter. However, the impact of woody debris on reclaimed ecosystems may vary depending on the amount applied and the soil it is applied to. We studied the impact on the plant community (including tree regeneration and understory plants) and soil properties of four levels of CWD cover (None, Low, Moderate, High) on two reclamation soils (forest floor-mineral mix and peat-mineral mix) and natural post-fire soils. Significant differences were observed among soil types in terms of the plant community and soil properties but fewer differences were attributable to CWD. However, overall native plant species' diversity and abundance decreased with High CWD while cover of non-native species on the reclaimed soils greatly decreased with Low CWD. Natural seedling regeneration density of trembling aspen was unaffected by CWD on both reclamation soil types. The soil nutrient supply rates and soil moisture were significantly different among soil types but there were no differences among debris treatments while soil temperature decreased with CWD. Overall, a Low (up to 30% ground cover) woody debris application appears to be optimal for maintaining native plant species diversity and abundance while controlling undesirable plant species.

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“…Error bars indicate standard error for each species individually availability. Other studies have also found that fertilizer increased grass cover on FFMM (Schott et al 2016) and the cover of non-native species (Errington and Pinno 2016), making it harder for other vegetation to establish. In extreme cases, an understory could be irreversibly dominated by undesirable non-native species which has been shown to happen with repeated fertilizer application in prairie restoration applications (Wilson and Pinno 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth and competition among understory plants varies with reclamation soil and fertilization

2018

Self Cite

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Introduction: Following oil sands mining in Alberta, Canada, the main land management goal is to establish a functioning boreal forest ecosystem, including the understory plant community. One of the challenges with restoring the understory is the presence of non-native species that compete with desirable native species for resources. In a greenhouse experiment, we studied the growth of two native understory species (Galium boreale and Vicia americana) and a non-native invasive species (Matricaria perforata) grown with either intra-or interspecific neighbors across three common land reclamation soils and a nitrogen fertilizer treatment. Results: When grown by itself, V. americana aboveground biomass did not differ among soil or fertilizer treatments, likely due to its ability to fix nitrogen. Growth of M. perforata was directly related to soil nitrogen, and it had the greatest increase in biomass with fertilization. Growth and biomass of G. boreale was less than the other species, and it had the highest mortality in the nitrogen-poor soil. When grown together, the proportional biomass of M. perforata and V. americana varied with soil treatment such that M. perforata was dominant in the high-nitrogen forest floormineral mix treatment while V. americana was dominant in the low-nitrogen peat-mineral mix. Conclusions: Operationally, care should be taken when applying fertilizer to reclamation areas, as it may have an unwanted positive effect on growth for undesirable non-native plants at the expense of native species. In terms of seed mixtures, V. americana may be a good option for low inorganic nitrogen resource soils and G. boreale for high nitrogen resource soils.

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Early successional plant community dynamics on a reclaimed oil sands mine in comparison with natural boreal forest communities

Cited by 35 publications

References 45 publications

Burn Severity Dominates Understory Plant Community Response to Fire in Xeric Jack Pine Forests

Burn Severity Dominates Understory Plant Community Response to Fire in Xeric Jack Pine Forests

Coarse Woody Debris as a Land Reclamation Amendment at an Oil Sands Mining Operation in Boreal Alberta, Canada

Growth and competition among understory plants varies with reclamation soil and fertilization

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