Energy exploration activities have affected Alberta’s boreal forest, contributing to the decline of caribou and other native species. While many are working to develop ways to restore boreal ecosystems, the full extent of these disturbances remains undocumented. For example, a recent study in the journal Nature Communications revealed unintended increases in methane emissions from boreal wetlands caused by seismic lines. Researchers from UCalgary and UWaterloo are working collaboratively with industry partners to better understand and mitigate the effects of oil and gas development in the boreal forest. Learn more about their research and pioneering new technologies aimed at helping to restore the forest and wetlands back to a healthy, thriving state. Watch the full webinar recording at https://explore.ucalgary.ca/learning-tread-lightly-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

7. The Boreal Forest
7

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

18. Canada’s Anthropogenic Footprint
18
BorealScience.org

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

38. Seismic Line Restoration
38

39. Seismic Line Restoration
39

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