Seminar: Mine Reclamation Methods for Promoting Soil Food Web Recovery at the Mount Polley Mine
Katie McMahen, Ph.D.
Friday, November 13, 2020
2:00 – 3:00 PM
via Zoom
ABSTRACT:
Mining operations severely disturb ecosystems and create challenging conditions for forest restoration. Using the Mount Polley Mine, BC as a case study, Katie McMahen’s Ph.D. research demonstrated that remnants of the pre-existing forest can be used in mine reclamation to help plants re-establish. Firstly, adding small volumes of fresh forest soil to the rooting zone of seedlings during planting improved seedling establishment and increased colonization of seedling roots by mycorrhizal fungi (beneficial microbes that improve plant nutrient acquisition). Secondly, greater proximity to undisturbed forest enhanced dispersal and recovery of plant communities and soil microbes. Katie also found that plants growing in mining waste formed distinct communities of mycorrhizal fungi. This selectively promoted the establishment of tree species that are compatible with those mycorrhizae, highlighting the long-term implications of plant species selection in reclamation. This research advanced the team’s understanding of the role of soil microbes in mine reclamation and identified reclamation methods that can improve plant establishment by promoting the recovery of beneficial soil microbes.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Katie McMahen is a terrestrial ecologist and soil scientist with 10 years of operational and research experience in the mining industry. Following the completion of a B.Sc. in Global Resource Systems at the University of British Columbia in 2011, she spent 5 years working in the Environmental Department at the Mount Polley Mine, BC. Katie recently defended her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia where she researched mine reclamation methods for improving recovery of the soil food web and studied how belowground ecosystem recovery can relate to improved revegetation outcomes. Katie started a position with the Integral Ecology Group in the summer of 2020.
ALL ARE WELCOME!