Growing season energy and water exchange from an oil sands overburden reclamation soil cover, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 2847-2857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean K. Carey
2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kelman Wieder ◽  
Melanie A. Vile ◽  
Kimberli D. Scott ◽  
Cara M. Albright ◽  
James C. Quinn ◽  
...  

AbstractIncreasing gaseous emissions of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) associated with oil sands development in northern Alberta (Canada) has led to changing regional wet and dry N and S deposition regimes. We assessed the potential for using bog plant/lichen tissue chemistry (N and S concentrations, C:N and C:S ratios, in 10 plant/lichen species) to monitor changing atmospheric N and S deposition through sampling at five bog sites, 3–6 times per growing season from 2009 to 2016. During this 8-year period, oil sands N emissions steadily increased, while S emissions steadily decreased. We examined the following: (1) whether each species showed changes in tissue chemistry with increasing distance from the Syncrude and Suncor upgrader stacks (the two largest point sources of N and S emissions); (2) whether tissue chemistry changed over the 8 year period in ways that were consistent with increasing N and decreasing S emissions from oil sands facilities; and (3) whether tissue chemistry was correlated with growing season wet deposition of NH4+-N, NO3−-N, or SO42−-S. Based on these criteria, the best biomonitors of a changing N deposition regime were Evernia mesomorpha, Sphagnum fuscum, and Vaccinium oxycoccos. The best biomonitors of a changing S deposition regime were Evernia mesomorpha, Cladonia mitis, Sphagnum fuscum, Sphagnum capillifolium, Vaccinium oxycoccos, and Picea mariana. Changing N and S deposition regimes in the oil sands region appear to be influencing N and S cycling in what once were pristine ombrotrophic bogs, to the extent that these bogs may effectively monitor future spatial and temporal patterns of deposition.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia H. Audette-Longo

Background  This article examines a week-long road blockade that took place in northern Alberta in January, 1983, organized by members of the Fort McKay First Nation and the Fort McKay Métis Community. The communities leveraged their blockade against a logging company, expanding the conversation to demand compensation, tougher oil sands pollution management, and better healthcare access. Analysis  A critical discourse analysis of newspaper coverage of the blockade in the local Fort McMurray Today and the provincial Edmonton Journal shows how links between the blockade and broader oil sands politics were minimized. Conclusions and implications  The article closes with considerations for contemporary journalistic practices of covering oil development, energy politics, and Indigenous resistance.Contexte  Cet article examine le blocus d’une semaine organisé par la Première Nation de Fort McKay et la Communauté Métis de Fort McKay au nord de l’Alberta en janvier 1983. Ces communautés ont mis à profit leur blocus contre une entreprise forestière pour demander des compensations, une gestion plus stricte de la pollution provenant des sables bitumineux et un meilleur accès aux soins.Analyse  Une analyse critique du discours utilisé pour parler du blocus dans les journaux, au niveau local dans le Fort McMurray Today et au niveau provincial dans le Edmonton Journal, démontre comment les liens entre le blocus et les politiques plus larges des sables bitumineux ont été minimisés.Conclusion et implications  L’article conclut avec des considérations pour les pratiques journalistiques contemporaines dans la couverture du développement pétrolier, politiques énergétiques et résistance autochtone.


1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1412-1421 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Danielson ◽  
S. Visser

Pinusbanksiana Lamb, seedlings were inoculated with nine mycorrhizal fungi and outplanted on an oil-sands containment dyke that had been amended with muskeg peat. After one growing season, E-strain (Complexipes), Hebeloma sp., Thelephoraterrestris Ehrh.:Fr., and Laccariaproximo Boudier each formed mycorrhizae with greater than 40% of the new short roots within 10 cm of the stem. Cenococcumgeophilum Fr., Pisolithustinctorius (Pers.) Coker & Couch, Astraeushygrometricus (Pers.) Morgan, Lactariusparadoxus Beardslee & Burlingham, and Sphaerosporellabrunnea (Alb. & Schw.:Fr.) Svrcek & Kubika each formed mycorrhizae with less than 6% of the short roots on egressed laterals. Of the introduced fungi, only E-strain was present in substantial quantities after 3 years. The quantity of short roots converted to mycorrhizae by indigenous fungi was 4, 33, and 72% after 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. The change in mycorrhizal fungi appeared to be a noncompetitive replacement process, in which the original short root resident fungus died in the near absence of mycorrhizal fungi. At the end of the 3rd year, the major indigenous fungi converting short roots to mycorrhizae were E-strain, Tuber sp., Suillus-like spp., Myceliumradicisatrovirens Melin, and an unidentified basidiomycete. Inoculation with E-strain and Thelephoraterrestris resulted in a 2- to 3-fold increase in shoot weight after 2 years compared with uninoculated seedlings.


1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Zak ◽  
Dennis Parkinson

Development of the root-surface fungal assemblages of Agropyron trachycaulum grown on amended oil-sands tailings and a subalpine coal-mine spoil from Alberta (Canada) was followed over one growing season. Fungi were isolated, using a root-washing procedure, from the region of main seminal and nodal roots 4 cm from the root–hypocotyl axis. Fungal colonization of the root surfaces was rapid, with equilibrium numbers of species reached 2 weeks after plant emergence. Although the application of either fertilizer, peat, or sewage sludge to these spoils had no effect on the general form of the colonization curve, peat amendation did result in significantly higher numbers of species on the root surfaces. Species turnover within all assemblages was high throughout the growing season. The amount of species replacement ranged from a low of 67% to a high of 91% between consecutive 4-week sampling periods. Thus, although the number of species was relatively constant, species composition changed considerably. The structure of the root-surface fungal assemblages was characterized by a large proportion of rare species. The species abundance distributions were essentially negative exponential. Neither time nor amendation had any significant effect on these distributions. The large incidence of rare species within the assemblages suggests that these root surfaces represent nonequilibrium systems with respect to species occurrences.


2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine E. C. Missik ◽  
Heping Liu ◽  
Zhongming Gao ◽  
Maoyi Huang ◽  
Xingyuan Chen ◽  
...  

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