Restoration and Reclamation of Boreal Ecosystems

Boreal ecosystems contain one-third of the world's forests and stored carbon, but these regions are under increasing threat from both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Written by leaders from the forefront of private, public and academic sectors, Restoration and Reclamation of Boreal Ecosystems emphasises a broad, conceptual approach to the specific application of empirical research into development planning, restoration and modelling of these ecosystems. The importance of this is highlighted at a time of global climate change, as these ecosystems act as carbon sinks. There is a focus on the reclamation of exploited ecosystems from a holistic standpoint, ranging from environmental and edaphic variables to the restoration of keystone flora. Recent advances in quantification of ecosystem services, such as habitat suitability and carbon storage modelling, are also detailed. The book contains case-studies which address how both historical and novel assemblages can provide ecosystem stability under projected climatic and land-use scenarios.Preface; Part I. Utilizing Natural Regimes as Models for Reclamation and Restoration: 1. The changing boreal forest: incorporating ecological theory into restoration planning Dale H. Vitt and Jagtar Bhatti; 2. Disturbance and the peatland carbon sink in the Oil Sands Administrative Area R. Kelman Wieder, Melanie A. Vile, Kimberli D. Scott, Dale H. Vitt, Erin Brault, Michelle Harris and Stephen Mowbray; 3. Regional-scale modeling of greenhouse gas fluxes Pavel Jurus, Petr Musilek, Yaqiong Li and James Rodway; 4. Reclamation and restoration of boreal ecosystems: attaining sustainable development Doug Hiltz, Joyce Gould, Jae Ogilvie, Paul Arp and Barry White; 5. Fundamental paradigms, foundation species selection, and early plant responses to peatland initiation on mineral soils Sara Koropchak, Dale H. Vitt, Rosemary Bloise and R. Kelman Wieder; Part II. The Challenges of Reclamation in Boreal Ecosystems: 6. Advances in oil sands tailings management: building the base for oil sands reclamation Randy Mikula; 7. Rebuilding boreal forest ecosystems after industrial disturbance Ellen Macdonald, Sylvie Quideau and Simon Landhausser; 8. Designing landscapes to support peatland development on soft tailings deposits: Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s Sandhill Fen Research Watershed initiative Carla Wytrykush, Dale H. Vitt, Gord McKenna and Rob Vassov; 9. Considerations for building a fen peatland in post-mined oil sands landscape Christine Daly, Jonathan Price, Line Rochefort, Fereidoun Rezanezhad, Remy Pouliot and Martha Darling Graf; 10. Plant community recovery on 'minimum disturbance' petroleum sites compared to burned sites in bogs of northern Alberta Melissa House, Dale H. Vitt and R. Kelman Wieder; 11. Oil sands reclamation and the projected development of wildlife habitat attributes Clive Welham, Juan Blanco, Brad Seely and Caroline Bampfylde; 12. Restoration of peatlands after peat extraction: impacts, restoration goals, and techniques Martha Darling Graf, Vicky Berube and Line Rochefort; 13. Importance of microbes in peatland dynamics, restoration, and reclamation Roxane Andersen; Part III. Carbon in the Boreal Forest: 14. Carbon and nitrogen stocks in western boreal forest ecosystems Jagtar Bhatti; 15. Projected patterns of C storage in upland forests reclaimed after oil sands mining Clive Welham, Brad Seely and Juan Blanco; 16. The business of carbon Mike Vitt; 17. Effects of peat extraction and restoration on greenhouse gas exchange from Canadian peatlands Maria Strack and J. M. Waddington; Index.