Impacts of oil sands process water on fen plants: implications for plant selection in required reclamation projects.

Environ Pollut

Department of Plant Sciences and Peatland Ecology Research Group (PERG²), Laval University, 2425 rue de l'Agriculture, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6.

Published: August 2012

Fen plant growth in peat contaminated with groundwater discharges of oil sands process water (OSPW) was assessed in a greenhouse over two growing seasons. Three treatments (non-diluted OSPW, diluted OSPW and rainwater) were tested on five vascular plants and four mosses. All vascular plants tested can grow in salinity and naphthenic acids levels currently produced by oil sands activity in northwestern Canada. No stress sign was observed after both seasons. Because of plant characteristics, Carex species (C. atherodes and C. utriculata) and Triglochin maritima would be more useful for rapidly restoring vegetation and creating a new peat-accumulating system. Groundwater discharge of OSPW proved detrimental to mosses under dry conditions and ensuring adequate water levels would be crucial in fen creation following oil sands exploitation. Campylium stellatum would be the best choice to grow in contaminated areas and Bryum pseudotriquetrum might be interesting as it has spontaneously regenerated in all treatments.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2012.03.050DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

oil sands
16
sands process
8
process water
8
vascular plants
8
impacts oil
4
sands
4
water fen
4
fen plants
4
plants implications
4
implications plant
4

Similar Publications

Comparative Analysis of Protist Communities in Oilsands Tailings Using Amplicon Sequencing and Metagenomics.

Environ Microbiol

January 2025

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The Canadian province of Alberta contains substantial oilsands reservoirs, consisting of bitumen, clay and sand. Extracting oil involves separating bitumen from inorganic particles using hot water and chemical diluents, resulting in liquid tailings waste with ecotoxicologically significant compounds. Ongoing efforts aim to reclaim tailings-affected areas, with protist colonisation serving as one assessment method of reclamation progress.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Predicting the Global Distribution of L. Under Climate Change Based on Optimized MaxEnt Modeling.

Plants (Basel)

December 2024

Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration in Northern Shaanxi Mining Area, College of Life Science, Yulin University, Yulin 719000, China.

The genus of L. are Tertiary-relict desert sand-fixing plants, which are an important forage and agricultural product, as well as an important source of medicinal and woody vegetable oil. In order to provide a theoretical basis for better protection and utilization of species in the L.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

On the occurrence, behaviour, and fate of naphthenic acid fraction compounds in aquatic environments.

Sci Total Environ

January 2025

Department of Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Dr, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A9, Canada; University of Lethbridge, Office of the Vice President (Research), Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address:

Naphthenic acids and naphthenic acid fraction compounds (NAFCs) are associated with production of unconventional petroleum resources, especially the Athabasca Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada. This complex mixture of acidic organic compounds is toxic to a variety of taxa, and so represents an important environmental management challenge. Thus, there is clear motivation to better understand the occurrence and characteristics of NAFCs in aquatic environments, their chemical behaviour, and environmental fate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Microplastic pollution has become a pervasive environmental challenge due to their global distribution and putatively harmful effects on organisms at different ecotoxicological endpoints. However, in some cases, the effects of microplastics are similar to, or even less harmful than those of naturally occurring particles. Bioplastics, developed as a more sustainable alternative to traditional plastics, still have unclear effects compared with oil-based microplastics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The solid phase composition in oily sludge (OS) is a key factor affecting the oil-solid separation of OS. In this paper, the effects and mechanisms of solid-phase particle factors on the oil content of residue phase were investigated in order to improve the oil-solid separation efficiency. Flotation experiments were carried out on single-size sand and mixed-size sand OS consisting of three particle sizes at room temperature without adding flotation reagents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!