We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
The natural revegetation of a vacuum-mined peatland: eight years ofmonitoring
- Authors
Lavoie, Claude; Berube, Marie-Eve
- Abstract
To determine whether a highly disturbed peatland ecosystem was successfully regenerating, we monitored the natural revegetation of a vacuum-mined bog located in southern Quebec that was abandoned in 1989 (Cacouna bog). Vegetation surveys were carried out in 1994 and 1998. The presence/absence of all species of vascular and non-vascular plantsalong eight 264-m long transects was noted in both years. The heightstructure of the invading birch (Betula spp.) population was also reconstructed in 1998. Only 11 plant species were sampled in 1994 at the vacuum-mined site. The 1998 survey added only five other species tothe list. Nevertheless, the 1994 and 1998 vegetation surveys were significantly different, particularly because the cover of four ericaceous shrub species (Chamaedaphne calycuiata, Kalmia angustifolia, Ledum groenlandicum, Vaccinium angustifplium) had increased since 1994. Height structure of the birch population indicated that seedlings werevery numerous at the study site, but few of them will probably survive to their first or second growing season. This suggests that the natural revegetation of the Cacouna bog's vacuum-mined (mechanically harvested) site is slowly converging towards that of most block-cut mined (manually harvested) sites in southern Quebec; i.e., a dense plantcover dominated by ericaceous shrub species. However, no Sphagnum species had established eight years after abandonment of the vacuum-mined section. This indicates that the site is not returning to a functional peatland ecosystem. Additional restoration measures should be elaborated to accelerate the revegetaUon process.
- Subjects
BOTANY; ECOLOGY; ENVIRONMENTAL impact analysis; LAND degradation; PEATLANDS; PLANT ecology
- Publication
Canadian Field-Naturalist, 2000, Vol 114, Issue 2, p279
- ISSN
0008-3550
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5962/p.363961