Reclamation - restoring disturbed lands

Cleaning up contaminated land is a struggle. Meet some of the community leaders who are taking matters into their own hands.

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Abstract Reclamation of disturbances from oil sands mining requires effective soil management to ensure successful plant establishment and to promote recovery of native plant communities.

In this study we investigated the effects of salvage depths (shallow vs. deep) and placement depths (shallow vs. deep) of forest topsoil on plant establishment, species richness, and soil properties in two substrate types (sand and peat-mineral). Shallow salvage led to greater tree stem densities and higher canopy cover for most plant groups, although there was no significant difference in species richness between shallow and deep salvages. Deep place- ment generally resulted in greater canopy cover, while its effect on plant density was very small for most plant groups. On peat-mineral substrate, fewer differences were detected between shallow and deep salvage, and multiple treatments resulted in greater cover.

Find- ings suggest that a balance between maximizing the area over which propagules are redis- tributed and providing sufficient resources for successful plant establishment is necessary. Forest topsoil from shallow salvages and deep placements is recommended when targeting increased site productivity and species diversity. In contrast, deep salvage should be used when the primary objective is to obtain maximum reclamation material volume.

Salvage depth effects may be influenced by substrate type, with peat-mineral substrate providing more favourable conditions for plant establishment. Further research is needed to assess the long-term impacts of different salvage and placement depths on plant community devel- opment and the potential effects of substrate properties on soil and plant response.

Pretty good restoration, given that closure construction just finished last year. They still have a ways to go before they can walk away, but the main things (pit filling, capping of dumps) have been completed, and there's no more yellow iron rumbling across the site to close things up.

This law aims to put measures in place to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

It sets specific, legally binding targets and obligations for nature restoration in each of the listed ecosystems – from terrestrial to marine, freshwater and urban ecosystems.

ABSTRACT
The development of habitat restoration techniques for restoring critical woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) winter habitat will play an important role in meeting the management thresholds in woodland caribou recovery plans. The goal is to restore disturbed environments within critical winter habitat for the declining woodland caribou. Woodland caribou are diet specialists, utilizing lichen-rich habitat for forage during winter months. Cladonia sub-genus Cladina is the most frequently eaten species during this time. Herein, we provide: 1) A review of previously used methods for transplanting Cladonia sub-genus Cladina and their feasibility in restoring woodland caribou winter habitat; 2) A stepby- step protocol on how to carry out a terrestrial lichen transplant program (using Cladonia sub-genus Cladina and C. uncialis); and, 3) An evaluation of our protocol through the establishment of a case study in northern British Columbia. Our results indicate that transplanting C. sub-genus Cladina fragments is the most efficient technique for transplanting terrestrial lichen communities, but transplanting lichen ‘patches’ or ‘mats’ may also be effective.

Cool article about seed banks. We really need to start creating and using them

American Rivers has some new (as of a month ago) videos of the Copco 1 and J.C. Boyle dams being breached. I'm really excited to see how the Klamath river responds to these dams being removed.

Copco 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEAuGu6zp-0&t=106s

J.C. Boyle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDD8lYV_GRQ

Also, someone made a post-breach video of the river with their drone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIJcOaSBsOg

(Sorry for not including alternate Piped links. That site isn't working for me right now for some reason.)

A good example of rough mounding benefits.

A 20-year experiment conducted by Colorado State University researchers in Yellowstone National Park found that restoring apex predators like wolves was not a quick fix for ecosystems degraded by their absence. While wolf reintroduction lowered elk populations, willows and aspens did not recover as strongly as expected even after carnivore numbers rebounded naturally. Constructing fences and dams showed the importance of reducing browsing and increasing water access independently. The study challenges the idea that easily reversing food webs can undo lasting ecological changes.

Good article that shows how mine dumps can be reclaimed to support human use (drive in) and how re-mining of wastes can be feasible in some cases

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/5492769

“The AER estimates over $45 billion in remediation and reclamation liabilities in the oilsands. This number may be a dramatic underestimate, with figures in leaked, official presentations suggesting as much as $130 billion in liabilities covered by less than $2 billion in security deposits,” University of Calgary School of Public Policy researchers Martin Olszynski, Andrew Leach, Drew Yewchuk wrote in a recent paper.

Silvia Pinca purchased 80 acres of land in New Zealand that was previously used as a pine plantation. She is working to rewild the land by removing invasive species like pines, pampas grass, and banana passionfruit and replanting native trees and shrubs. So far she has removed over 32,000 pines and planted hundreds of native seedlings. Native birds are starting to return to the land to help with seed dispersal. Her long term goal is to restore the native forest ecosystem and create a nature reserve.

Abstract This paper presents preliminary assessment of seedling survival and growth of green alder (Alnus viridis (Chaix) DC. in Lam. & DC.) planted on fly ash disposal sites. This kind of post-industrial site is extremely hard to biologically stabilize without top-soiling. The experiment started with surface preparation using NPK start-up mineral fertilizer at 60–36–36 kg ha-1 followed by initial stabilization through hydro-seeding with biosolids (sewage sludge 4 Mg ha-1 dry mass) and a mixture of grasses (Dactylis glomerata L. and Lolium multiflorum Lam.) (200 kg ha-1). Subsequently, three-years-old green alder seedlings were planted in plots on two substrate variants: the control (directly on combustion waste) and plots with 3 dm3 lignite culm from a nearby mine introduced into the planting pit. Five years of preliminary monitoring show good survival seedling rates and growth parameters (height (h), average increase in height (Dh), number of shoots (Lo) and leaf nitrogen supply in the fly ash disposal habitat. Treatment of the site with a combination of lignite culm in planting pits and preliminary surface preparation by hydroseeding and mineral fertilization had the most positive effect on green alder seedling parameters. The result sindicate that it is possible and beneficial to use green alder for biological stabilization on fly ash disposal sites.