Grant: Alliance Grants

The boreal region of Alberta is under increasing pressure from natural resource extraction. Roads, well pads, seismic lines (petroleum-exploration corridors), forest-harvest areas, and other elements of human footprint exert cumulative environmental effects that influence vegetation communities, wildlife, hydrology, and carbon dynamics. The Boreal Ecosystem Recovery and Assessment (BERA) project (www.beraproject.org) is a multi-sectoral research partnership of academic institutions (University of Calgary, University of Alberta, University of Waterloo), private-sector companies (Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Cenovus Energy, ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp., Imperial Oil Resources Ltd.), a public-sector division (Canadian Forest Service's Northern Forestry Centre), and a not-for-profit organization (Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute). Our central goal is to understand the effects of industrial disturbance on natural ecosystem dynamics in the boreal forest, and to develop strategies for restoring disturbed landscapes in a system that is under pressure from climate change. Our work will target knowledge gaps relevant to four specific management goals: (i) promoting a return to woody forest cover in disturbed areas, (ii) restoring natural carbon dynamics in disturbed peatlands, (iii) ensuring that wildlife populations and behaviour are within the natural range of variability, and (iv) enhancing woodland caribou habitat. The research is designed to provide knowledge and planning tools for researchers and resource managers engaged in boreal restoration, and to train the next generation of highly qualified personnel working in this space.