Grant: Engage Plus Grants Program

Recent growth in the Canadian oil and gas industry has increased the demand for pipelines. A critical aspect ofpipeline development is ecosystem restoration and maintenance. Ecological restoration is a developing field ofscience that is ideally positioned to provide the knowledge tools for successful recovery of disturbed lands dueto pipeline development for the oil and gas industry. Our proposal will screen morphological and physiologicaltraits of up to twenty native grassland plant species. Our main goal is to ensure a wide range of genotypes ofeach species, which requires plant seed collections from grassland communities across British Columbia, inorder to inform seed selection and seed sourcing for improved restoration success. The proposed researchbuilds on the original Engage grant by increasing the number of species, increasing the diversity ofenvironments in which we collect seed, and testing site preparation methods for improved restoration success.All the selected species are native to B.C. and occur along the existing Kinder Morgan Trans MountainPipeline. This research is critical because it will be done at a stage early in the proposed expansion (ortwinning) of the pipeline. By studying restoration now we have the best chance of successful reclamation uponfuture pipeline development, and other pipeline projects in B.C.