Aspen Flux Tower, Utikuma Region Study Area, Northern Alberta
Ecohydrological and Biogeochemical Processes in the Western Boreal Plain
Examining the hydroclimatological linkages between wetland ponds and
their surround upland areas and the resulting impacts on the regional
carbon balance. Special emphasis is placed on quantifying the impacts
of drought and succession on carbon storage in the wetland pond
complexes. Our research uses a combination of a) paired catchment
forest harvest experiments at fine (10ha) and coarser (>10km2)
scales, and b) hydrologic modelling to develop a management framework.
This framework will be used to predict the influence of forest harvest
practices and initiate studies on vegetation succession on water
cycling as influenced by the geology and sub-humid climate of the WBF.
We will develop landscape indices that provide information on an area’s
response to particular disturbances and allow non-hydrologists to
assess the hydrologic impacts of forest management practices (FMP’s) on
harvested sites and forest succession on reclaimed landscapes.
Specific deliverables of benefit to the Canadian forestry and oil sands industries arising from the project include: 1) new or refined landscape hydrologic models to describe the hydrologic behaviour of existing and reclaimed landscapes representative of the Western Boreal Forest; 2) effective planning tools that can be used to develop rigorous and objective scientific criteria and recommendations for cumulative risk assessment of the hydrologic consequences of FMP at a given scale, and appropriate reclamation procedures and landscape configuration of oil sands leases; and 3) appropriate and defensible soil and hydrologic indicators for monitoring and assessing success of FMP and oil sands reclamation.
We anticipate that the management framework will allow results of our research to be applied to provincial water strategies and to serve as guidelines for integrated land managers at the provincial level. The framework can also be applied at the national scale, facilitating the transfer of research knowledge among different regions. Collaboration with Dr. K. Devito (University of Alberta), Dr. U. Silins (University of Alberta), Dr. C. Mendoza (University of Alberta), Dr. T. Gan (University of Alberta), and Dr. E. Butterworth (Ducks Unlimited).
Specific deliverables of benefit to the Canadian forestry and oil sands industries arising from the project include: 1) new or refined landscape hydrologic models to describe the hydrologic behaviour of existing and reclaimed landscapes representative of the Western Boreal Forest; 2) effective planning tools that can be used to develop rigorous and objective scientific criteria and recommendations for cumulative risk assessment of the hydrologic consequences of FMP at a given scale, and appropriate reclamation procedures and landscape configuration of oil sands leases; and 3) appropriate and defensible soil and hydrologic indicators for monitoring and assessing success of FMP and oil sands reclamation.
We anticipate that the management framework will allow results of our research to be applied to provincial water strategies and to serve as guidelines for integrated land managers at the provincial level. The framework can also be applied at the national scale, facilitating the transfer of research knowledge among different regions. Collaboration with Dr. K. Devito (University of Alberta), Dr. U. Silins (University of Alberta), Dr. C. Mendoza (University of Alberta), Dr. T. Gan (University of Alberta), and Dr. E. Butterworth (Ducks Unlimited).
