Response of ground and rove beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Staphylinidae) to operational oil sands mine reclamation in northeastern Alberta, a case study

Hammond, H.E. James; Hoffman, Philip; Pinno, Bradley D.; Pinzón, Jaime; Klimaszewski, Jan; Hartley, Dustin J.

doi:10.1007/s10841-018-0094-4

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…The reclaimed upland habitats sampled are constructed landforms with a manufactured soil layer that is overlain with forest floor mineral mix or Peat Mineral Mix which is the overburden (soil layer) that was removed after initial vegetation clearing of the mine lease. This material was either stockpiled for later use or used to reclaim habitats via direct placement [18, 22, 63, 64]. While fire and logging are both associated with the removal or damage of existing vegetation, soil is left more or less intact, aiding in vegetative and wildlife recovery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CLR plots represent an interesting source of disturbance, having had all their vegetation removed (not just harvestable timber), however, the soil is left mostly intact. Interestingly, younger CLR plots (5–11 years) clustered both with MF plots and with older REC plots, perhaps suggesting that CLR plots are also recovering more quickly than REC plots, likely due to minimal disturbance of the soil [18, 22, 63, 64]. COMP plots, on the other hand, cluster with REC plots of similar age (Fig 3d), potentially as COMP plots have had their soil characteristics reconstructed, therefore exhibiting a disturbance regime similar to that of REC plots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oil sands surface mineable deposits are contained within surface glacial deposits at depths of 30 to 200 m, and are composed of loamy till, gravel, and sand [6]. Along with logging and oil sands development, fire and insect pests continue to be dominant sources of disturbance on this landscape [6, 22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the cleared sites are < 20 years old, placing them in the same age class as upland reclamation sites. Lastly, juvenile stands recovering from logging (LOG) and stand-replacing fire (BRN) represent the best available analogues to compare the developmental trajectories of wildlife habitat and use relative to upland reclamation [22, 26]. LOG plots vary from CLR plots in that all vegetation was removed from CLR plots, while in LOG plots only harvestable timber was removed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the site-level disturbance associated with logging and fire is different from upland reclamation, the approach to upland reclamation emulates the approach used to reforest sites post-logging. The age since stand-replacing fire is similar to the time since reclamation for many reclaimed sites currently included in the ESWD, providing a suitable comparison regarding the return to and use of reclaimed habitats relative to naturally regenerating stands following fire [22, 26]. Similarly, data from logged sites of the same age can function to assess whether upland reclamation promotes the establishment and development of vegetation structure that is similar to the communities that develop following logging [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wildlife usage indicates increased similarity between reclaimed upland habitat and mature boreal forest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada

Hawkes

Gerwing

2019

PLoS ONE

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While there is no denying that oil sands development in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) has large impacts upon the habitat it disturbs, developers are legally required to return this land to “an equivalent land capability.” While still early in the process of reclamation, land undergoing reclamation offers an opportunity to study factors influencing reclamation success, as well as how reclaimed ecosystems function. As such, an Early Successional Wildlife Dynamics (ESWD) program was created to study how wildlife return to and use reclaimed upland boreal habitat in the AOSR. Wildlife data comprising 182 taxa of mammals, birds, and amphibians, collected between 2011 and 2017 and from five oil sands leases, were compared from multiple habitat types (burned [BRN], cleared [CLR], compensation lakes [COMP], logged [LOG], mature forest [MF], and reclaimed sites [REC]). Overall, similarity of wildlife communities in REC and MF plots varied greatly, even at 33 years since reclamation (31–62% with an average of 52%). However, an average community similarity of 52% so early in the successional process suggests that current reclamation efforts are progressing towards increased similarity compared to mature forest plots. Conversely, our data suggest that REC plots are recovering differently than plots impacted by natural (BRN) or other anthropogenic disturbances (LOG), which is likely due to differences associated with soil reconstruction and development on reclaimed plots. Regardless of the developmental trajectory of reclaimed habitats, progression towards increased wildlife community similarity at REC and MF plots is apparent in our data. While there is no expectation that reclaimed upland habitats will resemble or function identically to naturally occurring boreal forest, the degree of similarity observed in our study suggests that comparable ecological functionality is possible, increasing the probability that oil sands operators will be able to fulfill their regulatory requirements and duty to reclaim regarding wildlife and wildlife habitat.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wildlife usage indicates increased similarity between reclaimed upland habitat and mature boreal forest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada

Hawkes

Gerwing

2019

PLoS ONE

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Response of rove‐beetle (Staphylinidae) assemblages to the cumulative effect of wildfire and linear footprint in boreal treed peatlands

Pinzón

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances have become increasingly relevant in the context of biodiversity conservation. Oil and gas (OG) exploration and extraction activities have created thousands of kilometers of linear footprints in boreal ecosystems of Alberta, Canada. Among these disturbances, seismic lines (narrow corridors cut through the forest) are one of the most common footprints and have become a significant landscape feature influencing the maintenance of forest interior habitats and biodiversity. Wildfire is a common stand‐replacing natural disturbance in the boreal forest, and as such, it is hypothesized that its effects can mitigate the linear footprint associated with OG exploration, but only a few studies have examined its effectiveness. We studied the short‐term (1 year post‐fire) response of rove‐beetle assemblages to the combined effects of wildfire and linear footprint in forest, edge, and seismic line habitats at burned and unburned peatlands along the southwest perimeter of the 2016 Horse River wildfire (Fort McMurray). While rove‐beetle species richness was higher in seismic lines in both the burned and unburned habitats compared with the adjacent peatland, diversity was greater only in seismic lines of burned areas. Abundance was lower in the burned adjacent peatland but similarly higher in the remaining habitats. Assemblage composition on seismic lines was significantly different from that in the adjacent forest and edge habitats within both burned and unburned sites. Moreover, species composition in burned seismic lines was different from either unburned lines or burned forest and edge. Euaesthethus laeviusculus and Gabrius picipennis were indicator species of burned line habitats, are sensitive to post‐fire landscapes and can occupy wet habitats with moss cover more efficiently than when these habitats are surrounded by unburned forest. Although these results are based on short‐term responses, they suggest that wildfire did not reduce the linear footprint, and instead, the cumulative effect of these two disturbances had a more complex influence on rove‐beetle recovery at the landscape level than for other invertebrates. Therefore, continued monitoring of these sites can become useful to evaluate changes over time and to better understand longer‐term biodiversity responses to the cumulative effects of wildfire and linear disturbances in boreal treed peatlands, given the long‐lasting effect of such disturbances.

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Aleocharine Beetles as Indicators of Environmental Change

Klimaszewski

Brunke

Sikes

et al. 2021

A Faunal Review of Aleocharine Beetles in the Rapidly Changing Arctic and Subarctic Regions of North America (Coleoptera, Staph

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Response of ground and rove beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Staphylinidae) to operational oil sands mine reclamation in northeastern Alberta, a case study

Cited by 13 publications

References 53 publications

Wildlife usage indicates increased similarity between reclaimed upland habitat and mature boreal forest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada

Wildlife usage indicates increased similarity between reclaimed upland habitat and mature boreal forest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada

Response of rove‐beetle (Staphylinidae) assemblages to the cumulative effect of wildfire and linear footprint in boreal treed peatlands

Aleocharine Beetles as Indicators of Environmental Change

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