Open Collections

Results from a pilot ecosystem mapping project on Syncrude’s reclaimed oil sands mine sites

British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

Ecosystem classification is an important tool for resource managers to interpret biological diversity and the suitability of land for a multitude of land uses. For reclaimed lands following open pit mining, the altered landscape and substantial loss of biological legacies leads to a condition where ecosystems may not have sufficient attributes to be recognizable as being potentially equivalent to their natural counterparts, and may be difficult to classify on an equivalent basis. In order to test the applicability of ecosystem classification to reclaimed lands, Syncrude undertook a pilot ecosystem mapping project on 1600 ha of reclaimed mine sites, where the time since revegetation activities ranged from 10 to 40+ years. It was found that ecosystem classes (ecosites) typically described for surrounding non-mined landscapes were still recognizable and mappable, offering a powerful tool for mine closure planning and reclamation reporting. It was perceived that classification confidence will increase with increasing age, as vegetation communities become increasingly similar to their natural analogues.

Conference Paper

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0437481

Non UBC

Other

DSpace