Lee Foot

Slide1: 

Wetland reclamation goals- realistic? Cumulative effects in Alberta’s boreal plain Can natural wetlands inform reclamation design criteria? Crucial hydrologic, floral and wildlife attributes needed Range of variation of wetlands in response to natural and human disturbances Natural Wetlands - Some Discussion

Slide2: 

Is This Really Possible? Re-contour Landscape Designed Wetlands Self-sustaining systems

Alberta’s Land UsesHow many, how fast, how long ??: 

Alberta’s Land Uses How many, how fast, how long ?? Agriculture Forestry Oil and Gas Human Infrastructure

Slide4: 

Volume Map of Oilsand Deposits Million m3 126 - 257 258 - 413 414-662 663-1437 HEAD Study Area

Seismic Lines (1997): 

82,724 km in FMA 49,671 ha Seismic Lines (1997)

Slide6: 

Ponds embedded in multi - industry forest landscape Alpac Opti cutblock, well pad & roads Gregoire Lake

Boreal Plain Wetlands Differ from Those on the Shield or Prairies: 

Boreal Plain Wetlands Differ from Those on the Shield or Prairies Boreal Shield (different geology) -Shallow till, granitic bedrock -low nutrients & biotic productivity Prairie Regions (different climate) -warmer, drier -no peatland influence -snowmelt water source WBF pond systems . Need to understand variation across region and over years in boreal zone

Wide Range of Wetlands Types on the Boreal Plain : 

Wide Range of Wetlands Types on the Boreal Plain Lakes Fens Marshes Bog Ponds

Boreal waterbird ecology is poorly understood: 

Region consistently produces 20% of North American ducks Low density, expansive region, many birds produced Few threats to habitat until recently Boreal waterbird ecology is poorly understood

Slide10: 

Research Scientists Suzanne Bayley Irena Creed Kevin Devito Lee Foote Partners ALPAC Mark Spafford Ducks Unlimited Gary Stewart NSERC Syncrude Terry Van Meer Weyerhaeuser Ltd Luigi Morgantini HEAD - Hydrology Ecology and Disturbance of Boreal Wetlands

HEAD and Oil Sands: 

HEAD and Oil Sands Reclamation vs Restoration Relevance of HEAD research to Oil Sands development? Range of variation in wetlands

Long-Term Multidisciplinary Research Program: 

Long-Term Multidisciplinary Research Program To determine the effects of disturbance on wetlands : indirect effects: changes in water and nutrient availability interactions with landscape linkages increase efficiency of transport Phase One (this study): Understanding of Natural Variation in Linkages and Pond characteristics range of acceptable change framework for conducting , interpreting and extrapolating Phase Two: Experimental Manipulations

RESEARCH GOALS: 

RESEARCH GOALS Determine the abundance, distribution, and quality of water bird habitat Measure the ecological or hydrological processes controlling wetland structure & function? Compare sites from range of geologic settings and over several years to establish natural variation Develop a GIS-based decision support systems to: predict wetland production & structure anticipate wetland response to disturbance

Slide14: 

Conceptual Framework for Boreal Wetland Functions Indicator Species Trophic Dynamics & Habitat Type Wetland Properties Landscape Controls Waterbirds Vegetation Pond Geomorphology Invertebrates Hydroperiod Nutrients Hydrology Climate Geologic setting Fish

Slide15: 

nutrients SAV shelter from predators food for zooplankton Bottom-up controls and habitat preference for waterbirds

Slide16: 

LARGE LAKES: Low brood densities on areal basis Shoreline littoral habitat selected Higher diversity of waterbird species SMALL Lakes: Higher brood densities Higher proportion of littoral zone More common in landscape Less territorial interference Aerial Brood Surveys 1998, Ducks Unlimited

Slide17: 

Project Status May 2001 NSERC CRD awarded January 2001 Four-year project (2-year pilot completed) Six graduate students currently involved Two post-doctoral fellows (Jasinska & Prather) Fieldwork currently underway Phase 2 (field manipulations) planned 2005

Relationship with Other Research: 

Relationship with Other Research

Summary: 

Reclamation goals must address a range of wetland types Development impacts are cumulative. Don’t expect an ecological silver bullet for problems Basic hydrology, vegetation, wildlife ecology needed for a complete picture HEAD focuses on multi-disciplinary and long-term approaches We expect to build on results to create a manipulative experiment Summary

Slide20: 

Project/Data Management Industrial Partners: - AlPac, - Weyerhaeuser - Syncrude University of Western Ontario GIS - Remote Sensing Lab Group Data Collection Archived @ U of A (group technician) 1. Local Catchment Scale - Utikuma pond WL & chemistry 2. Regional Data - pond chemistry, characteristics - summaries remote sensing & GIS based modeling Ducks Unlimited Canada