Manual of Plant Species Suitability for Reclamation in Alberta: 2nd Edition

Authors
Hardy BBT Limited
Resource Date:
1989
Page Length
496

In 1980 RRTAC published RRTAC Report No. 80-5: Manual of Plant Species Suitability for Reclamation in Alberta to provide users with information on a variety of plant species suitable for use in reclamation programs in Alberta. The manual was well received and went out of print in late 1988. An updated manual was prepared in 1989. The \"update\" added new information on the species in the manual which had become available through operational and research activities, primarily in Alberta. Performance data on new varieties tested in Alberta and new species (Pinus banksiana and Agropyron dasystachyum) were also added to the manual. With the addition of the new species the manual includes information on forty-four grasses, fourteen forbs and thirty-five trees and shrubs. The objectives of the update were: 1. to reprint original information in RRTAC Report 80-5: Manual of Plant Species Suitability for Reclamation in Alberta, and 2. to add new information to the manual. Prior to reprinting, the species information was reorganized under several major headings: Species Biology, Species Tolerances and Reclamation Considerations. In order to further improve the accessibility of the information contained in the manual, a summary page with a suitability map was prepared for each species. The summary, presented in tabular form, provides, for key reclamation parameters, a rating of the performance of each species. A Species Suitability Map for each species identifies the ecoregion(s) of Alberta where the species is best suited based upon information from field test results and natural occurrence of the species in Alberta. A Combined Performance Chart was also prepared for each of the grass, forb and tree/shrub groups, rating each species for selected key reclamation parameters.