Effects of woody debris and cover soil types on soil properties and vegetation 4–5 years after oil sands reclamation

Forsch, Katryna B. C.; Dhar, Amalesh; Naeth, M. Anne

doi:10.1111/rec.13420

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Soils at this area are dominated by organic Mesisols, with Fibrisols, Cryosols, and Orthic and peaty Gleysols. Other studies showed that the mineral soil in this region has a C:N ratio of 33.1 (0.7), sand percentage of 51.4 (1.0), silt percentage of 35.7 (0.6), clay percentage of 12.9 (0.6), and bulk density of 0.82 (0.06) mg m −3 [29]. The soil was sealed in pails and delivered to the University of Alberta.…”

Section: Soil Preparationmentioning

confidence: 76%

Effects of Elemental Sulfur on Soil pH and Growth of Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) and Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) Seedlings

et al. 2022

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The land disturbed by open-pit oil sands mining must be restored to support the survival and growth of native boreal plants. Because tailings sand and sodic shale overburden are commonly used as an underlying parent substrate that is capped by boreal forest cover soils, the soil pH in reclamation sites is often higher compared with undisturbed boreal forest soil. Sulfur is a major byproduct of oil sands refining and could potentially be used as an amendment to lower the soil pH on reclamation sites. In this study, we examined the effects of soil pH and elemental sulfur on growth and physiological responses in Saskatoon berry and beaked hazelnut seedlings. We found that elemental sulfur was effective in lowering soil pH. However, addition of elemental sulfur to a forest soil of pH 5.7 lowered the soil pH to around 3, which impaired the growth and physiological performance of both plant species. The addition of 5 and 25 g kg−1 elemental sulfur to the pH 8.5 soil did not substantially improve the examined growth and physiological parameters in Saskatoon berry and beaked hazelnut seedlings. Further, excess addition of elemental sulfur in high pH soil could reduce the uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium in Saskatoon berry. The results demonstrate that the amount of sulfur applied to the soil would need to be carefully determined for different soil types and pH levels to avoid potential toxicity effects.

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Section: Soil Preparationmentioning

confidence: 76%

Effects of Elemental Sulfur on Soil pH and Growth of Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) and Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) Seedlings

et al. 2022

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“…Findings from the study indicated that, while reduced TRD had no effect on soil nutrient availability or soil quality 5 years following reclamation, adding peat and biochar improved soil nutrient availability. The decrease in bulk density with amendment application reflects the increase in the total porosity of amended soils (Forsch et al, 2021;Page-Dumroese et al, 2016). Although bulk density was greater for TRD80 (1.3 g cm À3 ) than peat and biochar treatments, it was still lower than the pre-disturbance bulk density of 1.5 g cm À3 in the Ae horizon of the Orthic Gray Luvisolic soil at the site and remained within acceptable limits to support plant establishment and growth (Dlusskiy et al, 2017) Note: Means within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at α = 0.05 according to the Tukey multiple comparison procedure.…”

Section: Bulk Density Soc and Tknmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil properties following borrow pit reclamation with insufficient topsoil amended with peat and biochar

Nawu,

Zvomuya,

Adesanya

et al. 2023

Land Degrad Dev

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Disturbed sites, such as borrow pits and oil and natural gas well sites, require reclamation to restore and sustain levels of productivity similar to those prior to the disturbance. However, salvaged topsoil at many sites is often insufficient to meet the 80% topsoil replacement depth (TRD80) required for successful reclamation in western Canada. This 5‐year study evaluated soil responses to 50% topsoil replacement depth without organic amendment (TRD50) or amended with either peat (PTRD50) or biochar (BTRD50), relative to the TRD80 treatment (Control), following borrow pit reclamation at a disturbed boreal site near Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. Amendments were applied once at rates calculated to raise the soil organic carbon (SOC) content in the TRD50 soil to a level equal to that in the TRD80 treatment. Results showed a 143%, 87%, and 116% increase in total Kjeldahl nitrogen concentration in the PTRD50 relative to the TRD80, TRD50, and BTRD50 treatments, respectively, while soil potassium (K) concentration was significantly greater for BTRD50 than PTRD50. Peat and biochar significantly increased SOC concentrations by 83% and 88%, respectively, relative to the mean of TRD80 and TRD50 treatments. Our results show that peat and biochar can improve soil properties of disturbed boreal sites reclaimed with insufficient salvaged topsoil to a level suitable for successful reclamation. This has important implications on the reclamation of a multitude of disturbed sites, in Canada and globally, that have insufficient volumes of salvaged topsoil needed for successful reclamation.

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“…Vegetation restoration is the most effective measure to control land degradation (Yu et al 2020). Vegetation restoration can improve the soil physical and chemical properties and improve the stability of degraded ecosystems, and its effect increases with time (Forsch et al 2021;Ferreira et al 2013). The rapid response of soil microorganisms to changes in the external environment is usually used as an important index to evaluate the degree of restoration of degraded ecosystems (Ye et al 2021;Chen et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical distribution characteristics of soil bacterial community structure during vegetation restoration in red soil erosion area

Wang

Zhou

Wang

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The vertical distribution of soil microorganisms in soil indicates the restoration degree of degraded soil ecosystems. We took the untreated bare land and vegetation restoration sample plot in the red soil erosion area of southern China as the object of study; comparatively analysed the soil bacterial community changes in the 0 to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 30 and 30 to 40 cm soil layers; and explored the environmental factors driving the change in the soil bacterial community. The poor nutrient conditions created by soil erosion increased the competitiveness of autotrophs and made Chloroflexi the dominant phylum of bacteria. Soil erosion led to the gradual similarity of soil bacterial communities in the 0 to 10, 10 to 20 and 20 to 30 cm soil layers. However, only the relative abundance of Actinobacteria changed in different soil layers in the erosion area, mainly due to the inconsistent distribution of soil organic carbon caused by erosion affecting the change in the Actinobacteria relative abundance in the soil layer. After vegetation restoration, the soil properties of the eroded land were obviously improved, and the dominant bacterial phylum changed from autotrophic bacteria ( Chloroflexi) to heterotrophic bacteria ( Actinobacteria). The change in community structure existed only in the 0 to 30 cm soil layer in the restoration area, while the community structure changed to mainly Proteobacteria in the 30 to 40 cm soil layer. The change in the respective proportions of Chloroflexi, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria was the main reason for the difference in soil bacterial community structure among soil layers. The change in soil aggregates caused by vegetation restoration was the main environmental factor driving the variation in soil bacterial community structure, and the formation of aggregates was closely related to soil organic carbon. The vertical distribution of Actinobacteria in different soil layers can indicate the degree of soil ecosystem restoration in the red soil erosion area of southern China, and the relationship between Actinobacteria and soil organic carbon was significant.

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Effects of woody debris and cover soil types on soil properties and vegetation 4–5 years after oil sands reclamation

Cited by 9 publications

References 34 publications

Effects of Elemental Sulfur on Soil pH and Growth of Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) and Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) Seedlings

Effects of Elemental Sulfur on Soil pH and Growth of Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) and Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) Seedlings

Soil properties following borrow pit reclamation with insufficient topsoil amended with peat and biochar

Vertical distribution characteristics of soil bacterial community structure during vegetation restoration in red soil erosion area

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