Canadian tar sands industry in Alberta has expanded at an unprecedented rate during the last few decades. This expansion has resulted in surface mining of tar sands that produces massive areas of disturbed lands with challenging materials for remediation and revegetation [Qoureshi, 2008]. Several amending materials are being used by the industry to reconstruct the disturbed soils for successful reclamation and revegetation. However, vegetation establishment is either slow or limited by the harsh conditions in areas affected by oil sands products such as tailing sands, composite tailings or saline overburdened [Bois, 2005]. Successful revegetation of severely disturbed mine lands can be achieved biologically through inoculation of tree seedlings, shrubs, and grasses with a symbiotic fungus [Quoreshi, 2008a]. Mycorrhiza is a symbiotic relationship between plant and fungus and this relationship is of great benefit to establishing a sustainable plant ecosystem. The destruction of mycorrhizal fungal network in soil system is the vital event of soil disturbance and its reintroduction consequently is an essential approach of habitat restoration [Bois et al., 2006]. However, the success of reclamation strategy primarily depends on the tolerance of plant species to the adverse conditions found in challenging materials [Quoreshi et al., 2008b].
The research study aims to satisfy the potential benefit of nursery grown plant species and selected ectomycorrhizal fungi based on growth performance or survival when out plant on reclamation sites. Because ectomycorrhizal fungi play a vital role in reclamation, the various ECM species selected for the study were applied to plants as a single, double or triple mixture treatment.
It was hypothesized that the inoculation of seedlings with a cocktail of ECM species will enhance growth response more than that which might be expected from inoculation with single fungal species. It is expected as a consortium of fungal species with varying adaptability may make up for certain areas were the others lack in terms of thriving in unknown soil amendments. More so, it is expected that the above hypothesis could help create a more diverse and stable fungal community, facilitating further succession on the reclamation materials.
The research study aims to satisfy the potential benefit of nursery grown plant species and selected ectomycorrhizal fungi based on growth performance or survival when out plant on reclamation sites. Because ectomycorrhizal fungi play a vital role in reclamation, the various ECM species selected for the study were applied to plants as a single, double or triple mixture treatment.
It was hypothesized that the inoculation of seedlings with a cocktail of ECM species will enhance growth response more than that which might be expected from inoculation with single fungal species. It is expected as a consortium of fungal species with varying adaptability may make up for certain areas were the others lack in terms of thriving in unknown soil amendments. More so, it is expected that the above hypothesis could help create a more diverse and stable fungal community, facilitating further succession on the reclamation materials.
Disclaimer: This is a class exercise based on randomly modified datasets