Learning to tread lightly in the boreal forest
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The document discusses the ecological impacts of human activities in the boreal forest, particularly focusing on the carbon storage capacity and disruptions caused by oil and gas extraction, including seismic lines. It highlights the need for strategies to mitigate these impacts and collaborative efforts for effective restoration, especially of wetlands. The analysis reveals that anthropogenic disturbances are prevalent and their full effects on the region's ecology are still being investigated.
Learning to tread lightly in the boreal forest
- 1. Learning to Tread Lightly in the Boreal Forest Dr. Greg McDermid, PhD Professor, Department of Geography, University of Calgary Dr. Maria Strack, PhD Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo September 10, 2019
- 2. • Professor, Department of Geography • Research activities include application of remote sensing and other geospatial technologies to environmental monitoring and ecology • Email: mcdermid@ucalgary.ca • Twitter: @GregMcDermid Dr. Greg McDermid, PhD 2
- 3. • Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo • Canada Research Chair in Ecosystem and Climate • Studies interactions between ecology, hydrology, biogeochemistry and soil properties in wetland ecosystems • Email: mstrack@uwaterloo.ca • Twitter: @wetland_ghg Dr. Maria Strack, PhD 3
- 4. 1. Boreal forest’s incredible capacity to store carbon 2. The unintended consequences of petroleum development 3. Learning how to tread more lightly in the boreal 4
- 5. Partners and Funders 5 Canada Research Chairs program
- 6. The Boreal Forest / Taiga 6
- 8. The Boreal Forest 8 Wildlife Water Carbon
- 9. The Boreal Forest 9 Wildlife Water Carbon Wildlife
- 10. The Boreal Forest 10 Wildlife Water CarbonWater
- 11. The Boreal Forest 11 Wildlife Water CarbonCarbon
- 12. Disturbance in the boreal forest 12 < 5% 5-10% 10-25% 25-40% 40-65% > 65% Wetland area 127 million ha 14% of land area Wetlands cover at least 30% of Canada’s boreal forest
- 13. 13 Wetland: “land that is saturated with water long enough to promote wetland or aquatic processes” - poorly drained soils - hydrophytic vegetation - biological processes characteristic of wet environments (NWWG, 1997) Marsh, swamp, slough, pond, fen, bog, muskeg…
- 14. 14
- 15. 15 PEAT partially decomposed plant remains ~50% C 150 – 160 billion tonnes C
- 16. Undisturbed Peatlands Are Carbon Sinks 16 CO2 CH4 Dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
- 17. • 65% of Canada’s forests are managed • Forestry, mining, agriculture, petroleum, and recreation Canada’s Managed Forest 17 Natural Resources Canada
- 19. 19 • Third-largest proven oil reserves in the world, found across an area the size of Florida Alberta Petroleum Deposits Government of Alberta
- 20. Surface Mining and In Situ Development 20
- 21. The Oil Sands Landscape 21
- 22. Seismic Lines 22 • Linear clearings, 2-10m wide, cut through forests for subsurface petroleum exploration “Low Impact” Seismic Line (Julie Lovitt) “Conventional” Seismic Line (Eamon Mac Mahon)
- 23. 23
- 24. • There are more than 1.8 million km of seismic lines in Alberta alone • By far the most common type of industrial disturbance in Alberta’s forests Seismic Lines 24 Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute
- 25. Seismic Lines 25 • Seismic lines are slow to recover • After 35 years, just 8.2% of seismic lines had recovered to greater than 50% cover of woody vegetation • 0% in wetland sites
- 26. Ecosystem Impacts 26 • The ecological effects of seismic lines are well- documented • Effects on soil and carbon dynamics have received considerably less attention
- 27. 27 Seismic lines depress the ground surface, making peatlands wetter
- 28. 28
- 29. Wetter Peatlands Release More Methane 29
- 30. Resource Extraction Has Landscape Scale Impacts 30 http://abmi.ca/home/reports/2018/human-footprint PEATLAND DISTRIBUTION 0-5% 6-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100%
- 31. 31 Over 345,000 km of seismic lines cross bogs, fens and swamps in Alberta alone Total area disturbed = 1900 km2 Methane emissions increase 4.5-5.1 kT per year That’s equivalent to the CO2 emitted by 27,000 passenger vehicles driven for one year
- 32. Our Estimates Are Conservative 32
- 33. How Can We Tread More Lightly in the Boreal Forest? 33 • We need to better quantify the full extent of the impacts
- 34. How Can We Tread More Lightly in the Boreal Forest? 34 • We need to develop effective restoration methods, particularly for wetlands • Active collaboration between industry, academics, governments and NGOs
- 35. Careful pad removal, using geotextile liner where possible Elevation of neighbouring peatland measured. Peat surface to be set to 10 cm below hollows Depending on peat depth, clay buried to create appropriate elevation At least 40 cm peat placed on fill and levelled to benchmarks Photos: Line Rochefort Burial Under Peat Method Well-pad Reclamation
- 36. 2. OIL AND GAS EXTRACTION: WELL-PADS JUNE 2012 AUGUST 2013
- 37. 2. OIL AND GAS EXTRACTION: WELL-PADS JUNE 2012 AUGUST 2013 JULY 2016
- 40. Take-Home Messages 40 • Anthropogenic disturbance is widespread in the boreal forest • Full extent of the effect on the region’s function is still being uncovered • Treading lightly requires • Better quantifying existing impacts • Multi-stakeholder partnerships to develop strategies to mitigate impacts and develop effective restoration techniques
- 41. Acknowledgements 41 Canada Research Chairs program
Editor's Notes
- #23: Conventional: 8-10m wide, cut by bulldozers Since the mid 1990s: 2-5m wide “low impact” lines cut by mulchers or even by hand
- #32: Overview #1 (Seismic lines) displays the spatial distribution of seismic lines across the province, measured in terms of density Overview #2 (Peatland) shows the distribution of peatlands across the province, measured in terms of percent cover Main map: hot colors indicate where high densities of seismic lines and high proportions of peatlands coincide Undocumented emissions would boost Canada’s national reporting of methane in the category of land use, land-use change and forestry by about eight per cent