Effects of Buried Wood on the Development of Populus tremuloides on Various Oil Sands Reclamation Soils.
Trepanier, K. E., L. Manchola-Rojas, and Pinno, B. D.. 2022.
Abstract
Buried wood is an important but understudied component of reclamation soils.We exam-
ined the impacts of buried wood amounts and species on the growth of the common reclamation
tree species trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). In a greenhouse study, aspen seedlings were
planted into four soil types, upland derived fine forest floor-mineral mix (fFFMM), coarse forest
floor-mineral mix (cFFMM), and lowland derived peat and peat-mineral mix (PMM), that were mixed
with either aspen or pine wood shavings at four concentrations (0%, 10%, 20% and 50% of total
volume). Height and diameter growth, chlorophyll concentration, and leaf and stem biomass were
measured. Soil nutrients and chemical properties were obtained from a parallel study. Buried wood
primarily represents an input of carbon to the soil, increasing the C:N ratio, reducing the soil available
nitrogen and potentially reducing plant growth. Soil type had the largest impact on aspen growth
with fFFMM = peat > PMM > cFFMM. Buried wood type, i.e., aspen or pine, did not have an impact
on aspen development, but the amount of buried wood did. In particular, there was an interaction
between wood amount and soil type with a large reduction in aspen growth with wood additions of
10% and above on the more productive soils, but no reduction on the less productive soils.
Key Words
buried wood; land reclamation; reclamation soils; trembling aspen; tree growth