#795: Salt Tolerant Willows: Pioneer Species in Forest Succession
Developing new and effective methods to rebuild the forest after oil sands mining is a major effort for Syncrude.
One research project at Base Mine Lake is investigating whether willows can tolerate the high levels of salt in soil leftover from bitumen production.
Richard Krygier of the Canadian Forest Service outlines the advantages of using willows in the bio-remediation and rebuilding the forest.
RICHARD KRYGIER: Willows are what they call a pioneer species. So they are one of the first species to come into an area that’s been disturbed after fire or where the soil has been exposed. And so they grow very quickly and occupy the site which is important if you don&rsqrsquo;t want non-native weeds to get established. The other thing is they have a very fibrous and extensive root system. So that’s got several advantages if you’re trying to keep the soil from moving, whether it’s from water erosion or something like that. The other thing is, both from the leaves that are dropped every fall and the roots that are in the soil, they start building up the soil organic matter. They also provide a place for other plants to start coming in to the ecosystem under the willows. So maybe more shade tolerant, other native plants
Richard Krygier says willows are also useful at sewage lagoons.
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I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
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Syncrude
Program Date: 2016-07-12