Ectomycorrhizal Biotechnology For Enhanced Revegetation

In the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR), reclamation following oil sands mining has focused on the use of organic treatments such as forest floor (LFH) materials from upland forests, peat mineral mix and overburden soil to improve soil quality and fertility and, thus, plant establishment and productivity. However, little attention has been given to the use of topsoil and the potential benefit of mycorrhizal biotechnology in long-term plant establishment. In this thesis, it was hypothesized that the inoculation of nursery trees with mycorrhizal fungi prior to out planting could facilitate an enhanced reclamation in AOSR. This study examined the potential of using conifer seedlings Picea glauca and Pinus banksiana inoculated with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi to improve revegetation success and plant establishment in reclaimed oil sands mining sites.

Mycorrhizal inoculum potential of the reclamation soils was low, with the maximum inoculum potential of 23% and 29%for ECM and arbuscular mycorrhizae, respectively. The response of seedlings in the field to ECM inoculation varied between plant species and measured parameters. A significant effect of ECM inoculation on height was observed in P. banksiana but not in P. glauca. The average survival rate for P. glauca seedlings inoculated with different species of ECM varied between 36% and 56%, whereas the control (uninoculated) seedlings had minimum and maximum survival rates of 22 and 41% respectively. Generally, it was construed that the re-introduction of mycorrhizal fungi during reclamation process is an important approach that should be further exploited.