Short-term survival and growth of 32 native boreal plants on treated oil sands tailings

Abstract

The consolidation of oil sands tailings is a cost- and time-consuming process that requires treatment via active (e.g., centrifugation) and passive (e.g., self-weight consolidation) methods. The use of plants to dewater tailings is a promising concept and has previously been evaluated using agronomic grass species in greenhouse studies. This greenhouse study evaluated the short-term survivorship and growth of 32 upland and lowland native plant species (12 forbs, 14 graminoids, and six woody plants) in centrifuged tailings and benchmarked their performance against reclamation soil and undisturbed forest soil. All plant species were propagated from seed and transplanted as seedlings into containers filled with one of the three substrates. After 42 days, the height (woody species only) and total aboveground biomass were determined for all living plants. As expected, the mortality of seedlings in tailings was higher than plants grown in the other two substrates. Graminoid species, regardless of species community type (wetland or upland), had higher survival probabilities and growth compared to forb or woody species across all substrates. Of forbs and woody species evaluated, Geum aleppicum and Populus tremuloides showed the most promise amongst the upland species, and Rumex occidentalis was the wetland equivalent.