Emissions from oilsands may have fertilizing effect
Report suggests nitrogen, sulphur could benefit neighbouring forests
A report monitoring the potential impact of the oilsands on surrounding ecosystems has found that pollutants from the oilsands may be having a positive effect on nearby forests.
Ellen Macdonald, a professor of forest ecology with the University of Alberta, analyzed data collected by the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association and found emissions and dust may have actually helped some forests closer to the oilsands in northern Alberta thrive.
“I was surprised,” Macdonald said. “I found basically the opposite to what I expected, which is that vegetation seemed to be doing better at sites close to the oilsands than at sites farther away.”
Macdonald’s analysis focused on the effects of nitrogen and sulphur emissions and dust from mining operations on 25 areas between 13 and 130 kilometres away from the oilsands sites in various directions. The sites were tested in 2011 and 2012 and a detailed analysis was released last month as part of a report titled Assessing Forest Health in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region.
The forest health monitoring program is run by the WBEA, a not- for- profit organization funded through the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency. The forests that were tested and analyzed were dry, nutrient- poor jack- pine areas, as these were expected to be sensitive to the effects of the oilsands pollutants.
Macdonald said she initially expected the nitrogen and sulphur emissions, which can have acid rain-like effects and alter the pH balance in the soil, resulting in reduction of forest growth and health.
However, the dust contained cations — positively charged ions — which appeared to neutralize the possibly acidifying effects of the emissions, Macdonald said.
“It could be that the cations themselves are acting as a fertilizer, or it could be that the nitrogen and sulphur are acting as a fertilizer,” Macdonald said.
Macdonald also found increased species of vascular plants — trailing shrubs and other plants that grow in the forest. She decided to conduct further research to see how the various areas were doing before oilsands development, and whether regional differences affected the growth she saw. Her results verified there weren’t any inherent differences between the sites closer to the oilsands before development began.
However, Macdonald said time will tell if the emissions and dust will dramatically alter the ecosystem. “If it acts as a fertilizer and favours some plant species over other plant species, that can be negative because you’re changing the forest from the way it was,” Macdonald said.
Macdonald hopes to collect more data from the sites next year and see if there have been further changes.