1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
849 General Services Building (GSB), General Services Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB
Event details: A graduate exam seminar is a presentation of the student’s final research project for their degree.
This is an ALES MSc Final Exam Seminar by Hailey Cole. This seminar is open to the general public to attend.
MSc with Drs. Anne McIntosh and Scott Nielsen.
Zoom Link: https://ualberta-ca.zoom.us/j/97848680051?pwd=klbRV0QNv4I7KWj9a6Ufb4PZRaIQFV.1
Thesis Topic: Revisiting reclaimed well pads in boreal forests: the role of time and changing criteria in the recovery of vegetation composition, forest structure, and plant functional traits.
Abstract:
In Canada’s western boreal forests, oil and gas exploration and extraction results in substantial anthropogenic disturbances, including clearing forests for well pads. Well pads are decommissioned and then reclaimed: a process in which they are intended to be on a path of ecological recovery. To understand post-reclamation recovery, I collected taxonomic, structural, functional, and soil property data at 25 well pads and adjacent reference boreal forests in north-west Alberta, Canada. I used multivariate analyses and generalized additive mixed models to quantify recovery patterns. My analyses showed that some variables, such as soil FH depth, leaf carbon, and diversity measures showed resilience. However, well pads of varying ages and criteria groups were significantly different from mature benchmark forests, suggesting that many well pads are in arrested succession even 44 years post-reclamation. These results can improve our understanding of post-disturbance dynamics and may help inform forest management and reclamation practices.
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