This document provides a literature review of current weed management practices, and provides and overview of regulatory frameworks, record of weed occurrence in the boreal forest, competition and establishment drivers for weed growth in forest ecosystems and monitoring and management strategies at in-situ and mineable oil sands operations.
The overall project goal is to attempt to assess whether noxious weeds managed in the boreal forest are significantly impacting boreal succession using publically available literature, available vegetation survey data and field experience of oil sands operations practitioners. The assessment is based on risk factors of individual weed species, growth dynamics with native vegetation, and site conditions.
Information is used to understand whether the current approach to weed management (i.e., active control and eradication) of these regulated weedy and noxious species is necessary in boreal sites or if other methods could be used (i.e. monitoring). By summarizing this information, the review aims to provide Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) with a comprehensive understanding of the topic area, identifying specific knowledge gaps and potential risk factors and growth patterns associated with regulated noxious and prohibited noxious weeds in reclaimed areas in the boreal region, thus setting the foundation for future recommendations for potential changes in policy regarding weed control and eradication in the Green Area.