Pipeline Impacts and Recovery of Dry Mixed-Grass Prairie Soil and Plant Communities

Naeth, M. Anne; Locky, David A.; Wilkinson, S. R.; Nannt, Meghan Robyn; Bryks, Candace L.; Low, Caitlin H.

doi:10.1016/j.rama.2020.06.003

Cited by 16 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The findings of this study support our central hypothesis that disturbed rough fescue grasslands may recover using natural regeneration as the revegetation technique, since most of the plant community parameters such as total vegetation cover, richness, diversity, and evenness of pipelines did not differ from undisturbed prairie, although differences in plant community composition reduce the assumption of total restoration success. Similar observations were reported in other studies of fescue grasslands (Desserud & Naeth 2013; Woosaree & Otfinowski 2018; Elsinger et al 2022) and non‐fescue grasslands (Ruprecht 2006; Albert et al 2014; Naeth et al 2020). Desserud and Naeth (2013) and Woosaree and Otfinowski (2018) found vegetation cover with natural regeneration was similar to undisturbed rough fescue grassland.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Soulodre et al (2022) suggested using topsoil to facilitate natural regeneration was better than seeding to achieve a diverse plant community in mixed grass prairie. Naeth et al (2020) found higher species richness and diversity in dry mixed‐grass prairie when topsoil was used to facilitate natural regeneration than when pipelines were seeded. Albert et al (2014) found vegetation cover with spontaneous succession did not differ from reference grassland within 10–20 years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Underground pipelines provide a quick and efficient means of transporting oil and gas due to their greater volume capacity, and low energy costs relative to rail or highway transportation (Xiao et al 2016; Horn et al 2021). Despite environmental concerns, pipeline demand has increased relative to other methods of transportation (Naeth et al 2020). The world has over 7 million km of pipeline constructed and operated by 124 nations, with the United States having 65% of the total pipeline length, followed by Canada at 13.5%, then Russia at 4.2% (The World Fact Book 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Alberta Canada alone, there is over 445,000 km of pipelines (Alberta Energy Regulator 2021). The increased demand for pipeline construction over the past few decades has resulted in increased habitat fragmentation and pressures on biological diversity (Copeland et al 2009; Ludlow et al 2015), posing significant challenges for conservation and range management (Hammermeister et al 2003; Naeth et al 2020; Elsinger et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of oil and gas disturbance impacts on grasslands have focused on single to few disturbances in one or two grassland types, or disturbances in grasslands other than plains rough fescue (Avirmed et al 2015; Rottler et al 2018; Naeth et al 2020). Information on reclaiming disturbances on plains rough fescue prairie is limited and mostly based on short term studies (Desserud et al 2010; Desserud & Naeth 2013; Woosaree & Otfinowski 2018), requiring research to determine how pipeline disturbances affect fescue grasslands, how they can be mitigated, and how they can be restored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plains rough fescue grassland restoration using natural regeneration after pipeline disturbances

Elsinger

Dhar

Naeth

2022

Restoration Ecology

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Plains rough fescue (Festuca hallii), once a dominant grassland in the Northern Great Plains, has been reduced to a fraction of its original extent by agricultural intensification and energy sector disturbances and has become a threatened community type. Despite thousands of kilometers of pipelines in grasslands, little is documented about long-term restoration outcomes. This research assessed recovery of rough fescue grassland 6-21 years after pipeline construction with topsoil stripping and natural regeneration relative to undisturbed reference sites in south-central Canada. Soil properties varied between pipelines and undisturbed prairie, although most were within theoretical values to support plant growth and development. Vegetation cover, species richness and Shannon diversity and evenness did not differ significantly between pipelines and undisturbed prairie. Multivariate analysis (multi-response permutation procedure) showed plant community composition, and its dominant species differed significantly between pipelines and undisturbed prairie. Bray-Curtis dissimilarity indices showed dominant species and functional species groups on pipelines were more similar to undisturbed prairie than the undesirable species group. Presence of early-to late-successional species and increasing F. hallii with pipeline age indicate restoration was possible with topsoil salvage and replacement, using natural regeneration as a revegetation method, but requires time to develop and restore a typical rough fescue grassland ecosystem.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Plains rough fescue grassland restoration using natural regeneration after pipeline disturbances

Elsinger

Dhar

Naeth

2022

Restoration Ecology

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Effects of pipeline and well‐pad reclamation on topsoil properties: A meta‐analysis

Birkhimer,

DeSutter,

Jore

et al. 2023

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

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The development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking has led to an increase in oil and natural gas extraction. Development of infrastructure to extract and transport these resources is expected to increase over the next few decades, resulting in extensive land disturbance. Although reclamation aims to sufficiently return disturbed lands to their pre‐disturbance use in an ecological sense, reclaimed rights‐of‐ways (ROW) commonly produce reduced crop yields. The objective of this study was to use meta‐analysis to determine soil disturbance trends across studies found in the peer‐reviewed literature. Papers that reported soil property data on disturbed ROWs and adjacent undisturbed sites were retrieved by searching the Web of Science database. Papers were separated by climate regions, resulting in analyses being conducted for studies in semiarid and humid climate regions. Results indicate that soil bulk density, soil organic matter, and pH are significantly increased on reclaimed ROWs. Soil metrics not incorporated in meta‐analysis due to insufficient observations or the possible presence of publication biases like a desire to publish significant results and poor study design (cation exchange capacity, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, total nitrogen, electrical conductivity, sodium, sodium adsorption ratio, and texture) are assessed and discussed. Best management practices gleaned from studies incorporated into meta‐analysis are discussed to provide strategies to limit soil property disturbances.

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Evaluation of land preparation methods for soil stabilization, revegetation, and renewed productivity in semi‐arid climates

Lardy,

DeSutter,

Meehan

et al. 2023

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

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In the Williston Basin, land‐preparation treatments have not been compared in side‐by‐side trials to evaluate performance for parameters such as runoff, erosion, and vegetation establishment. Thus, four treatments of wheat‐straw crimping, land imprinting, wood‐fiber hydromulch, and the combination of land imprinting and hydromulch were evaluated against a bare soil control in a replicated and randomized completed block field experiment near Williston, ND. Rainfall simulations were performed in September 2020 and June 2021 to examine the effectiveness of the treatments to reduce runoff and sediment losses. Vegetation establishment was also evaluated in August 2021. The wheat straw treatment reduced the equivalent depth of runoff by 60% as compared to the bare soil control in 2021. By 2021, the imprinted area had largely become similar in roughness as the control plots and thus sediment losses were not different between these treatments. However, relic effects of the straw and hydromulch treatments reduced sediment loss by 50% or more. Vegetation establishment was not significantly different among treatments and the bare soil control using broadcast seeding, which may have been due to drought conditions causing low establishment in all plots. All the land‐preparation practices evaluated in this study may have limitations in assisting plant establishment during severe or persistent droughts.

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Pipeline Impacts and Recovery of Dry Mixed-Grass Prairie Soil and Plant Communities

Cited by 16 publications

References 38 publications

Plains rough fescue grassland restoration using natural regeneration after pipeline disturbances

Plains rough fescue grassland restoration using natural regeneration after pipeline disturbances

Effects of pipeline and well‐pad reclamation on topsoil properties: A meta‐analysis

Evaluation of land preparation methods for soil stabilization, revegetation, and renewed productivity in semi‐arid climates

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