Land-Use References

Year Title (Author, Description) File Download
1982

The Sediment Delivery Problem

D.E. Walling

The linking of on-site rates of erosion and soil loss within a drainage basin to the sediment yield at the basin outlet, and improved knowledge and representation of the associated processes of sediment delivery, represent a major research need within the field of erosion and sedimentation and also an important scale problem in drainage basin studies. This paper reviews the limitations of the sediment delivery ratio concept by considering the problems of temporal and spatial lumping and its blackbox nature. Some recent advances in our understanding of the sediment delivery system and its modelling are described and the lack of empirical investigations is highlighted. The significance of recent concern for the role of sediments in the transport of nutrients and contaminants to sediment delivery studies is introduced, and the need for further work in this field is emphasized.

Contact ALCES for D.E. Walling, 1982
2010

Science for a Changing Far North. The Report of the Far North Science Advisory Panel

The Far North Science Advisory Panel

This report describes the vast and largely intact ecological systems of the Far North, and recommends a conservation-matrix approach for land use planning. It recommends landscape-level planning, with benchmark areas and specific features of interest set aside from development, while other areas are designated for active management, and the landscape overall is planned for continuity and resilience of ecological function. Adaptive management provides a means of evaluating management strategies as climate change and economic development proceed. It will require sustained commitment to the collection and sharing of information about the Far North, including scientific and aboriginal traditional knowledge.

Contact ALCES for The Far North Science Advisory Panel, 2010
2006

Phosphorus Sources and Sinks in Watersheds: A Review

Sandi Riemersma, Joanne Little, Gerald Ontkean, and Tanya Moskal-Hébert

Many regions around the world are concerned with phosphorus (P) and the risk it poses to water quality. Phosphorus is the limiting nutrient in most freshwater systems and, when in excess, it can accelerate eutrophication. Many countries have adopted some form of phosphorus management strategy to reduce the risk of phosphorus entering surface water from agricultural land. In Alberta, the Soil Phosphorus Limits Project was initiated in 1999 to develop soil phosphorus limits that will maintain or improve surface water quality by minimizing phosphorus loading from agricultural soils. With laboratory work complete, micro-watershed studies have recently been initiated to identify the relationship between dissolved phosphorus (DP) and soil test phosphorus (STP). However, on a larger scale there are a variety of phosphorus sources and sinks within watersheds that influence the phosphorus content of surface water. A key question is what proportion of phosphorus in surface water can be attributed to agricultural land, and what factors govern inconsistencies in the various sources and sinks. To better understand this complex issue, a review of literature pertaining to phosphorus sinks and sources was conducted. Research carried out in Alberta and elsewhere that attempted to integrate phosphorus fluxes on a watershed scale was assessed, and its implications on the Soil Phosphorus Limits Project discussed.

Contact ALCES for Sandi Riemersma, Joanne Little, Gerald Ontkean, and Tanya Moskal-Hébert, 2006
2010

Demand Letter to Minister Prentice

Jack Woodward, Woodward & Co. LLP

We are legal counsel for Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Enoch Cree Nation, Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (collectively, the “First Nations Petitioners”) in respect of this matter. We write on behalf of the First Nations Petitioners to request that you take immediate steps to protect the full ranges of the remaining woodland caribou herds in northeastern Alberta by preventing any further industrial activity anywhere within those ranges. Leading woodland caribou biologists have been recommending this course of action to you and to your ministry (Environment Canada) for several years. You and your ministry have also known for several years about the precipitous decline of woodland caribou in northeastern Alberta, but to date you have done nothing to protect woodland caribou or their habitat.

Contact ALCES for Jack Woodward, Woodward & Co. LLP, 2010
2010

Predicting deerevehicle collisions in an urban area

Rob Found, Mark S. Boyce

Collisions with deer and other large animals are increasing, and the resulting economic costs and risks to public safety have made mitigation measures a priority for both city and wildlife managers. We created landscape models to describe and predict deer-vehicle collision (DVCs) within the City of Edmonton, Alberta. Models based on roadside characteristics revealed that DVCs occurred frequently where roadside vegetation was both denser and more diverse, and that DVCs were more likely to occur when the groomed width of roadside right-of-ways was smaller. No DVCs occurred where the width of the vegetation-free or manicured roadside buffer was greater than 40 m. Landscape-based models showed that DVCs were more likely in more heterogeneous landscapes where road densities were lower and speed limits were higher, and where non-forested vegetation such as farmland was in closer proximity to larger tracts of forest. These models can help wildlife and transportation managers to identify locations of high collision frequency for mitigation. Modifying certain landscape and roadside habitats can be an effective way to reduce deer-vehicle collisions.

Contact ALCES for Rob Found, Mark S. Boyce, 2010
2012

Social-Ecological Thresholds in a Changing Boreal Landscape: Insights from Cree Knowledge of the Lesser Slave Lake Region of Alberta, Canada

Parlee, B. L., K. Geertsema, and Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council

Drawing on the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Lesser Slave Lake Cree, this paper shares understanding of how resource development has affected water, fish, forests, and wildlife as well as the well-being of Cree communities in the Lesser Slave Lake region of Alberta, Canada. In addition to descriptive observations of change, the narratives point to social-ecological thresholds or tipping points in the relationship of Cree harvesters to local lands and resources. Specifically, the study speaks to the echoing effects of ecological loss and degradation on traditional livelihood practices over the last 100 years highlighting the complexity of cumulative effects as well as the challenges of balancing resource development in the region with alternative land uses including those valued by Alberta’s Aboriginal peoples.

Contact ALCES for Parlee, B. L., K. Geertsema, and Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council, 2012
2002

Ecological basis for stand management: A synthesis of ecological responses to wildfire and harvesting

Samantha Song (editor)

Public concern over the ecological impacts of clearcutting and loss of old growth forest, as well as the increased knowledge of natural disturbance dynamics of forests, has prompted a number of agencies in North America to re-evaluate forest practices. Increasingly, in an attempt to address these concerns, many government departments and corporations have released new policies and guidelines to supplement or replace the current suite of harvesting practices with a broader range of approaches that are intended to use natural disturbance as a model. Generally, the intent of the natural disturbance template is that biotic systems adapted to natural disturbance may be better managed under a harvesting regime that attempts to emulate those disturbances rather than under existing clearcutting practices. This represents a different focus for altering harvest practices than models that aim to protect old forest seral stages, although there are many overlapping components. The objective of the Ecological Basis for Stand Management project was to review, synthesize, and evaluate the ecological basis for harvest practices at the stand level in boreal mixedwood forests. Our approach critically assessed two strategies for forest management: management for old growth seral stages, and management to emulate natural disturbances, particularly wildfire. Using a chronosequence approach and with some re-analysis of existing data, we reviewed the ecological effects of wildfires on forests, then compared with clearcutting and retention of residual trees. We compared ecological elements at each seral stage to old seral stage forests. We also documented existing information on biotic responses to riparian areas and forest edges.

Contact ALCES for Samantha Song (editor), 2002
2010

Collisions between Wildlife and Vehicles in Alberta

Amy Carter

Contact ALCES for Amy Carter, 2010
2008

Better Farming; Better Air

H.H. Janzen, R.L. Desjardins, P. Rochette, M. Boehm and D. Worth

Review of agricultural practices and their contributions to GHG

Contact ALCES for H.H. Janzen, R.L. Desjardins, P. Rochette, M. Boehm and D. Worth, 2008
2012

Land and Water Impacts of Oil Sands Production in Alberta

Sarah Jordaan

Review of the Land and Water Impacts of Oil Sands Productions in Alberta

Contact ALCES for Sarah Jordaan, 2012
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