Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

In the oil sands development areas near Fort McMulTaypeatlands comprise up to 65% of the landscape. Oil sands mining of over 250 km2 disturbs large tracts of these peatlands, which require reclamation to a functioning natural ecosystem. Essentially, a fen peatland must be created from fen peat bOlTowed from new lease areas, along with a watershed designed to supply the requisite water and dissolved minerals that result in a self-sustaining ecosystem that is carbon-accumulating, capable of supporting a representative assemblage of species and resilient to nonnal periodic stresses. This has never before been attempted. In addition to assisting Suncor Energy comply with its legal obligation to reclaim fens in the post-mined landscape, this research is essential to understanding design implications and thus to the development ofmore optimal designs and cost-effective protocols. The fundamental problem for fen construction is to design a groundwater system that can support the inflows required to sustain the hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological processes andfunctions, and minimize the adverse effect ofpoor water quality derived from tailings sand used in its construction. This proposal outlines the approach to evaluating the success ofthe design, including 1) materials type and placement; 2) its ability to deliver water of adequate quality to a built-system; 3) the method of revegetation; 4) the appropriate fen plant and microbial species; and 5) how these contribute to the accumulation of carbon in the system. The project will increase our ability to design fen reclamation more effectively, and provide training ofhighly qualified individuals (3 postdoctoral fellows, 5 PhD, 11 MSc and ~25 undergraduate students), who will be essential for the future management resource-extracted landscapes.