Jay Woosaree, revegetation ecologist for Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures, discusses fescue grassland site characteristics, different reclamation treatments, results and future plans. Providing important habitat for several sensitive species, fescue grasslands are hard to get back once disturbed. He talked about the research done on the Del Bonita Site and what they have learnt about fescue and the restoration process.
They used seeds and plugs for restoration. He discussed what was planted in the different plots, and reviewed the survival rates of plants after spring and fall planting, and the natural infill and annual weeds existing in year one of naturally vegetated plots.
On this site the fescue, forb and legume plugs are doing well, and they advise that a maintenance and weed management plan be used for reclamation to ensure a positive successional trend towards desired plant communities. This presentation was a part of the Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada (PTAC) Ecological Issues and Resource Access Forum in November of 2014.
