Funding period: 2020-2024
Lead: Sean Langley
Total GRDI funding: $395,200
GReEn TReES seeks to improve the revegetation success of mine tailings by using genomics to investigate differences in plant-microbe symbioses that may promote plant establishment and/or biomass production. Improving plant establishment will lead to a more rapid revegetation of otherwise non-productive lands, improving ecosystem function and social acceptance of mining practices. Plant species selection might also be optimized to provide social or economic benefits. For example, tailings could be used to grow food, medicinal or ceremonial plants, or forage to attract hunting species in support of local Indigenous communities. Economically, reforestation could generate saleable forestry products. Alternatively, if unsuitable for forest products, forest biomass might be harvested and combusted to produce energy that could help offset utility costs in other parts of the mine operations. In the case of closed mines, such energy could be used to help power remote communities, or sold back into the electrical grid for revenue generation.
Publications
- Asemaninejad A, Langley S, MacKinnon T, Spiers G, Beckett P, Mykytczuk N, Basiliko N. 2021. Blended municipal compost and biosolids materials for mine reclamation: Long-term field studies to explore metal mobility, soil fertility and microbial communities. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143393
- Correa-García S, Rheault K, Tremblay K, Séguin A, Yergeau E. 2021. Soil characteristics constrain the response of microbial communities and associated hydrocarbon degradation genes during phytoremediation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 87(2): e02170-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02170-20
- Ghotsa Mekontchou C, Houle D, Bergeron Y, Roy M, Gardes M, Séguin A, Drobyshev I. 2022. Contrasting structure of root mycorrhizal communities of black spruce and trembling aspen in different layers of the soil profile in the boreal mixedwoods of eastern Canada. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05410-8
- Rheault K, Lachance D, Morency MJ, Thiffault É, Guittonny M, Isabel N, Martineau C, Séguin A. 2020. Plant genotype influences physicochemical properties of substrate as well as bacterial and fungal assemblages in the rhizosphere of balsam poplar. Frontiers in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.575625
- Samad A, Pelletier G, Séguin A, Degenhardt D, Muench DG, Martineau M. 2022. Understanding willow transcriptional response in the context of tailings reclamation of oil sands exploitation. Frontiers in Plant Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.857535
- Savard MM, Martineau C, Laganière J, Bégin C, Marion J, Smirnoff A, Stefani F, Bergeron J, Rheault K, Paré D, Séguin A. 2021. Nitrogen isotopes in the soil-to-tree continuum – Tree-rings express the soil biogeochemistry of boreal forests exposed to moderate airborne emissions. Journal: Science of the Total Environment, 780: 146581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146581
- Stefani F, Beguin J, Martineau C, Paré D, Morency MJ, Fortin JA, Thiffault N, Séguin A. 2023. Does wood mulch trigger microbially mediated positive plant-soil feedback in boreal forests? A post hoc study (in press). Frontiers in Plant Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1122445
Contact us
For additional information, please contact:
Genomics R&D Initiative
Email: info@grdi-irdg.collaboration.gc.ca