‘A whole world under our feet’: soil dwellers offer a fuller picture of how reclamation efforts are working
The tiny creatures teeming in the dirt under our feet don’t seem important, but University of Alberta research is starting to unearth ways some of them could help measure land reclamation efforts. Invertebrates such as worms, mites, centipedes and beetles affect the soil, but they aren’t included in current criteria that help mining, forestry, oil…
Vital learning experience – a rite of passage for the past 50 years – reimagined for safety and sustainability
By the time Ben Strelkov started high school, the self-described “city kid” assumed that once he was in the workforce, he’d be confined to an office, doing basically the same thing every workday. His summer job following Grade 10 shattered the illusion. “I spent the whole time in northern Alberta – building trails, helping communities…
Want to develop trees that grow faster, resist insects and disease, and are resilient in a changing climate
As one of Alberta’s leading sectors, forestry relies on healthy trees but, faced with challenges including climate change and environmental sustainability, there's a need for constant improvement. Creating ways to develop fast-growing, well-adapted trees in the province is a task that researcher Barb Thomas and her team of scientists in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences…
The work of the $4-million endowed position will help inform forest companies as they sustainably manage land for timber and biodiversity
Robert Froese can tell you the exact moment he knew forestry would be his lifelong career. He was an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia, standing in the forest with his classmates. “My professor went crashing into the woods … and he came back with a big Douglas-fir branch,” said Froese. “It was rainy…
Uses range from reclaiming wastewater to capturing carbon and decontaminating soil
It looks like the throwaway scrapings from a barbecue grill, but biochar is fanning the flames of discovery as University of Alberta researchers explore the product’s environmental benefits. The blackened byproduct – created from waste like cow manure, wheat and canola straw, and sawdust produced in Alberta – has many uses that help the environment…
Researchers examine what logging, climate change and other factors mean for caribou populations
New research by University of Alberta biologists paints a clearer picture of how food webs are shifting in response to changing habitats in Canada’s boreal forests, and what it means for dwindling caribou populations. “We know that habitat, prey and predators such as wolves are all pieces of the caribou conservation puzzle, and here we…
Mountain pine beetles can be an important contributor to forest health, but ...
In a new study aimed at assisting efforts to contain the destructive spread of mountain pine beetles, University of Alberta biologists examined their flight techniques and used genetic information to track how they are spreading through the province. “One of the reasons these beetles have become such a problem is because of the difficulty in…
2021 perfect opportunity for the feds to demonstrate its commitment to a sector critical to the Canadian prosperity
If only the federal government would put its full force behind the energy sector, as it does other critical sectors in the economy. In early October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he wouldn’t back down from the latest American round of attacks on Canada’s softwood lumber industry. Then, the federal government announced it would pursue…
The sustainability of Alberta’s forest industries will be strengthened through a new $4.125-million research chair being established at the University of Alberta. The Endowed Chair in Forest Growth & Yield, being established in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences (ALES), will focus on research that improves understanding of the growth of Alberta’s forests. “The new…
U of A research is first to show that growth rate of adult trees is linked to fungal networks colonizing their roots
Being highly connected to a strong social network has its benefits. Now a new University of Alberta study is showing the same goes for trees, thanks to their underground neighbours. The study, published in the Journal of Ecology, is the first to show that the growth of adult trees is linked to their participation in fungal…
The tiny creatures teeming in the dirt under our feet don’t seem important, but University of Alberta research is starting to unearth ways some of them could help measure land reclamation efforts. Invertebrates such as worms, mites, centipedes and beetles affect the soil, but they aren’t included in current criteria that help mining, forestry, oil…
