The Role of Seeding in Reclamation of Disturbed Sites: Whitehorse Workshop (2013)
A workshop presentation showing examples of seeded reclamation sites and how species choice and vegetation succession influence recovery. It also follows roadside vegetation management and several restoration examples.
16:27 · 96 slides · Historical presentation · No recorded narration
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Soil Bioengineering Training & Courses · Revegetation Strategy at Island Copper Mine (2001) · Site Assessment & Restoration Planning
About this presentation
Source: Whitehorse Seeding Workshop, 2013. Slides by David Polster; individual image and diagram credits remain in the presentation. This video includes the complete supplied deck. It is an archive slideshow, not a recording of the spoken conference session.
Dates, costs and examples reflect the original presentation. Treatment suitability depends on current site conditions and requirements.
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The numbered list preserves the original slide text. PES has added visual descriptions for 12 selected slides to explain diagrams and photographs that rely on the image. The descriptions are separate from David Polster’s original words; other slides retain their extracted text only.
THE ROLE OF SEEDING IN RECLAMATION OF DISTURBED SITES DAVID POLSTER, POLSTER ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES LTD.
Helicopter seeding exploration trench in the Upper Elk Valley in the fall of 1977
Upper Elk Valley Seeded with agronomic grasses and legumes in 1977, photographed in 2009.
The agronomic grasses and legumes we have been using for reclamation prevent effective recovery of these sites. Upper Elk Valley
Ecologically based strategies seek to re-establish natural successional trajectories on lands used for mining.
Over 500,000 Red Alder trees planted at the Island Copper Mine
Establishment of pioneering species such as alder on waste rock dumps results in excellent vegetation growth. 12 years old
25 years old
Shifts to an Alder / Salmonberry / conifer stand…
… but the dense cover of seeded grasses and legumes out-competes the alder unless the alder can form a closed canopy.
So we have seen a drop in the number of alder trees over the years…
…even as the total cover has gone up.
Seeding slopes for erosion control Fall 1985
Excellent cover of seeded species… August 27, 1992
…almost too good (preventing woody species establishment). July 9, 2005
Slow encroachment - August 1, 2009
Dense stand of seeded grasses and legumes at Giant Mine Site (Baker Creek Reach 4)
Poor spruce trying to make a living in a dense stand of seeded species (Baker Creek Reach 4)
30 year old NWT well site Creeping Red Fescue
Another 30 year old NWT well site Creeping Red Fescue
Freshly seeded NWT well site
Not some cheap afterthought by a guy with a hand seeder…
11 years of forest recovery right next to seeded well site…
Seeded Selwyn exploration site, the only place I found invasive species
Faro freshwater reservoir area seeded and staked
Yesterday…
Faro Grum sulphide cell cover project, seeded
Faro Grum sulphide cell cover project
Seeded agronomic grasses and legumes create successionally stagnant conditions. Seismic Site
Wildlife collisions are a major problem… …but we do everything we can to provide enticing food for wildlife near the road.
Fresh grass in the spring brings the deer to the roadside…
This is a hazard to both the deer and the motorists…
Eventually bad things happen…
This is a restoration issue…
Planting tasty forage crops along highways attracts animals with fatal results - mostly for the animals but sometimes humans
Use of natural successional processes to inform vegetation management - a Yukon example… Cleared roadside - initial successional stage
Cleared roadside - pioneering invaders… lot's of moose food!
Blocks sightlines, hides signs…
Send in the brush cutters… What do we do when we have brush problems?
J F M A M J J A S O N D Plant Energy Reserves Mowed or tilled May winter kill Months Cutting when root reserves are high will result in increased growth
Visual description, slide 40 (6:44): The diagram plots plant energy reserves against the months of the year. A solid curve falls from a high winter level to a low point in late spring, then rises again toward autumn. Dashed curves show progressively lower reserves after repeated mowing or tilling. An arrow near the lowest dashed curve is labelled “May winter kill.” The vertical axis has no numerical scale.
Cleared roadside - grows to dense thicket… good cover for moose… Cutting causes re-growth of the cut species - suckering of pioneering plants.
Cleared roadside 2005 - clearing repeated
Cleared roadside 2005
Cleared roadside 2006 - so what do we have?
Pioneering vegetation - let's take a closer look…
Rapidly growing aspen
Rapidly growing balsam poplar
A variety of rapidly growing pioneers…
Cleared roadside - look to forest to get off this early successional treadmill…
Open aspen forest - limited cover for a moose and no forage…
Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) - ideal understory
Details…
Visual description, slide 52 (8:55): A close view of the forest floor shows low green plants, moss, twigs, red berries and fallen yellow leaves. It supplies the visual detail behind the preceding slide’s discussion of kinnikinnick beneath aspen.
Selective removal of understory stems to speed opening up of forest.
Selective removal of understory trees, pruning spruce boughs…
Visual description, slide 54 (9:15): Slender deciduous trunks and a few spruce branches stand between the camera and a road. Red star-shaped markers identify selected stems and branches in the foreground, illustrating the slide’s proposed selective removal and pruning.
What about the spruce?
Late successional stage but dense…
Prune branches, remove young trees.
Lichens and mosses…
Visual description, slide 58 (9:55): Pale lichen and darker moss cover the ground between conifer trunks. Low branches hang above this ground cover, with patches of sunlight reaching the forest floor.
Prune branches…
With branches pruned, no need to touch this site for decades…
Understanding vegetation successional patterns allows cost effective management
Some simple solutions to sight lines
Just getting started, 12:02 PM
Sight lines restricted
Sight lines opened, 1:03 PM
Just getting started, 2:12 PM
Sight lines opened, 2:30 PM
Pruning branches opens the sightlines without opening the site to early successional species.
Used on forestry intersections
Cutting pioneering woody species under power lines results in rapid re-growth of these species
Treatments under power lines
Select species with slower growth rates Pine Spruce
Visual description, slide 72 (12:15): A photograph compares a spruce on the left with a taller pine near the centre. Blue arrows mark closely spaced levels on the spruce; red arrows mark more widely spaced levels on the pine. The slide uses this comparison to discuss selecting species with slower growth rates.
Dense early seral vegetation blocks sightlines
A bit of selective pruning…
…and we can go from here…
Visual description, slide 75 (12:45): Before the pruning shown in the next slide, dense leaves and low branches obscure the view through a row of roadside trees. Parked vehicles are in the foreground. The photograph is dated September 25, 2007.
…to here (September, 2007).
Visual description, slide 76 (12:55): After selective pruning, the tree trunks remain while the lower foliage is more open. A building and the road beyond are visible between the stems. The photograph is dated September 25, 2007, matching the preceding view.
May 21, 2008
Visual description, slide 77 (13:05): On May 21, 2008, leafy crowns remain above mostly open lower trunks along the roadside. A building and a vehicle can be seen through the trees, with low vegetation beneath them.
May 15, 2009
Visual description, slide 78 (13:15): The May 15, 2009 view shows the same roadside tree strip from a slightly different position. Leafy crowns stand above visible lower trunks, and the road and vehicles beyond can be seen between the trees.
June 18, 2011
Visual description, slide 79 (13:25): The June 18, 2011 photograph shows taller leafy crowns above the roadside trunks. A vehicle is visible through the tree strip, with grass and low vegetation at its base.
May 10, 2013
Visual description, slide 80 (13:35): The May 10, 2013 photograph shows the roadside trees in leaf, with lower trunks visible and a road junction beyond them. The viewpoint is wider than in the preceding photograph; it is a dated follow-up view rather than a measured sight-distance comparison.
BC Hydro removed the Heber River Dam and was faced with the need to restore the disturbed sites
There was a 3 km penstock that was also removed.
So we made project sites rough and loose and covered them with woody debris…
Visual description, slide 83 (14:07): A cleared corridor through forest has an uneven surface covered with logs, stumps, branches and exposed soil. The photograph illustrates the rough and loose preparation and retained woody debris described in the slide.
By November 13th, 2012 the project sites were ready for winter.
Monitoring transects were established at 5 project locations, July 16, 2013
An average of 5,410 alder seedlings/hectare were found
Including between the rocks of the rip-rap
Compaction and erosion issues Mount Tuam Road Restoration
Unauthorized access
Making sites rough and loose
Rough and loose road October 17, 2011
Carpet of new seedlings June 28, 2012
Douglas-fir seedling March 23, 2013
August 13, 2013 Oceanspray
August 13, 2013 Red Alder
Pioneering plants are ready to work for us Faro Mine