Potential Impacts of Beaver on Oil Sands Reclamation Success – an Analysis of Available Literature
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Potential Impacts of Beaver on Oil Sands Reclamation Success – an Analysis of Available Literature B. Eaton, J.T. Fisher, T. Muhly and S-L. Chai Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures August 2013 Oil Sands Research and Information Network The Oil Sands Research and Information Network (OSRIN) is a university-based, independent organization that compiles, interprets and analyses available knowledge about managing the environmental impacts to landscapes and water impacted by oil sands mining and gets that knowledge into the hands of those who can use it to drive breakthrough improvements in regulations and practices. OSRIN is a project of the University of Alberta’s School of Energy and the Environment (SEE). OSRIN was launched with a start-up grant of $4.5 million from Alberta Environment and a $250,000 grant from the Canada School of Energy and Environment Ltd. OSRIN provides: Governments with the independent, objective, and credible information and analysis required to put appropriate regulatory and policy frameworks in place Media, opinion leaders and the general public with the facts about oil sands development, its environmental and social impacts, and landscape/water reclamation activities – so that public dialogue and policy is informed by solid evidence Industry with ready access to an integrated view of research that will help them make and execute reclamation plans – a view that crosses disciplines and organizational boundaries OSRIN recognizes that much research has been done in these areas by a variety of players over 40 years of oil sands development. OSRIN synthesizes this collective knowledge and presents it in a form that allows others to use it to solve pressing problems. Citation This report may be cited as: Eaton, B., T. Muhly, J.T. Fisher and S-L. Chai, 2013. Potential Impacts of Beaver on Oil Sands Reclamation Success – an Analysis of Available Literature. Oil Sands Research and Information Network, University of Alberta, School of Energy and the Environment, Edmonton, Alberta. OSRIN Report No. TR-37. 65 pp. Copies of this report may be obtained from OSRIN at [email protected] or through the OSRIN website at http://www.osrin.ualberta.ca/en/OSRINPublications.aspx or directly from the University of Alberta’s Education & Research Archive at http://hdl.handle.net/10402/era.17507. i Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv REPORT SUMMARY.....................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... ix 1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 1.1 Background ..............................................................................................................1 1.2 Methods....................................................................................................................4 2 BEAVER ECOLOGY .........................................................................................................5 2.1 Preferred Habitats ....................................................................................................5 2.2 Diet ...........................................................................................................................6 2.3 Foraging Range ........................................................................................................8 2.4 Dams ........................................................................................................................8 2.5 Culverts ....................................................................................................................9 2.6 Canals .......................................................................................................................9 2.7 Lodges and Bank Dens ............................................................................................9 2.8 Density ...................................................................................................................10 2.9 Natural Predators ...................................................................................................12 2.10 Traditional Use.......................................................................................................12 2.11 Distribution and Recovery .....................................................................................14 2.12 Previous Research on Beaver Impacts to Reclamation ..........................................15 2.13 Potential Beaver Impacts on Mineable Oil Sands Reclamation ............................16 3 WATER BODY DESIGN IN RECLAMATION PLANS ................................................17 3.1 Lakes ......................................................................................................................17 3.2 Wetlands ................................................................................................................18 3.3 Rivers/Streams .......................................................................................................18 4 RISKS TO RECLAMATION PERFORMANCE .............................................................19 4.1 Potential Impacts to Stream Performance ..............................................................20 4.1.1 Stream Flow ...............................................................................................20 4.1.2 Channel Modification .................................................................................20 ii 4.1.3 Blocking of Culverts ..................................................................................21 4.1.4 Siltation and Sedimentation .......................................................................21 4.1.5 Erosion .......................................................................................................22 4.1.6 Potential Impacts of Dam Failure ...............................................................22 4.2 Potential Impacts to Lake and Pond Performance .................................................23 4.3 Potential Impacts to Revegetation Performance ....................................................23 4.3.1 Loss of Biomass .........................................................................................23 4.3.2 Vegetation Composition .............................................................................24 4.4 Potential Impacts to Soil Performance ...................................................................25 4.5 Spatial Scale of Beaver Impacts ............................................................................26 4.6 Maintaining Target Ecosites Post-reclamation ......................................................26 4.7 Examples of Potential Failure Modes on the Reclaimed Landscape .....................27 5 RISK MITIGATION OPTIONS........................................................................................28 5.1 Stream Design ........................................................................................................28 5.2 Revegetation ..........................................................................................................29 5.3 Beaver Management ..............................................................................................30 5.3.1 Hydrologic Protection ................................................................................30 5.3.2 Dam Removal or Alteration .......................................................................32 5.3.3 Barrier Protection .......................................................................................33 5.3.4 Beaver Control ...........................................................................................33 5.3.5 Tree and Vegetation Protection ..................................................................35 6 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................36 7 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................40 7.1 Additional Information ..........................................................................................55 8 GLOSSARY ......................................................................................................................56 8.1 Terms .....................................................................................................................56 8.2 Acronyms ...............................................................................................................57 APPENDIX 1: Databases for Literature Search ...........................................................................58 APPENDIX 2: Boolean Terms Used During the Literature Search .............................................61 LIST OF OSRIN REPORTS .........................................................................................................62 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Beaver densities in North America. ...................................................................... 11 Table 2a. Beaver threat matrix. The factors that influence beaver occurrence at a