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• Fort McKay (AMS 1)
• Mildred Lake (AMS 2)
• Lower Camp Met Tower (AMS 3)
• Buffalo Viewpoint (AMS 4)
• Mannix (AMS 5)
• Patricia McInnes (AMS 6)
• Athabasca Valley (AMS 7)
• Fort Chipewyan (AMS 8)
• Barge Landing (AMS 9)
• Albian Mine Site (AMS 10)*
• Lower Camp (AMS 11)
• Millennium (AMS 12)
• Syncrude UE-1 (AMS 13)
• Anzac (AMS 14)
• CNRL Horizon (AMS 15)
• Albian Muskeg River (AMS 16)*

*Note: AMS 10 was retired due to mining in the location. It has been replaced with AMS 16 which is 4km SE of the former AMS 10 site.

Once every six years, TEEM completes an extensive series of integrated measurement and sampling of the plots in its jack pine monitoring site network in the RMWB. This program was completed in 2011, involving a large team of scientific and technical professionals. Planning began in May of 2010, with the actual field program being conducted in the summer of 2011. The information and data collected will be evaluated to determine if forest health is being affected by air emissions.

In May of 2010, TEEM hosted a scientific workshop at which each of the measurements and samples included in the Forest Health Monitoring Program were reviewed. Workshop participants included a number of world authorities on air pollution and their effects on forest ecosystems. A number of new measurements and/or sampling programs were recommended, several of which were included in the 2011 program.

Last winter WBEA prepared a detailed, comprehensive Procedures Manual that specifies the field and laboratory methods to be used during the Forest Health Monitoring Program, including methods for the new measurements and sampling programs. Every method is based on scientific sampling protocols.

Standardization of field procedures, laboratory analyses, and record keeping ensure that data collected in one year are compatible with the data collected in past, and future, years. Much like selection of similar jack pine stands is a means to reduce variability and improve the ability to detect effects, standardizing field methods and data collection reduces variability and the potential for errors, making the data more robust and increasing our ability to detect changes at one or more sites. Improvements to some procedures were identified by field crews in 2011, and an updated Procedures Manual will be prepared during the 2011 winter months.

The network of monitoring sites was expanded in 2011. New monitoring plots were selected on the basis of several years of evaluation by Dr. Dennis Jaques, Ecosat Geobotanical Surveys Inc., in consultation with WBEA scientists. A substantial effort was made to select new sites that are very similar to each other, and to add to the sites already in the monitoring program. As a result of this effort, 10 new sites were accepted into the program, increasing the total number of sites to 23. Monitoring sites are spread throughout the region, at locations near to, and far from emission sources, and in every direction from them.

The Richardson backcountry wildfire that took place in the spring of 2011 burned through five of the 13 existing monitoring sites. A smaller fire affected a sixth site. Forest fire is a natural process in jack pine forest ecology, and therefore, these sites remain a part of the program and were included in the 2011 program.

Veronica Chisholm, Speedwell Environmental Associates Ltd., spent many hours and much effort constructing the 2011 program plan, paving the way for a successful season. Veronica's efforts were substantial, making sure that each of the program components were assigned to qualified, experienced teams. Six field teams were commissioned for the program, one each tasked with staking/restaking of plots, soil sampling, vegetation measurement and sampling, lichen sampling, tree health assessment, soil microbiology sampling.

Plots were staked at new sites, and plots restaked at the existing sites, by teams comprising Veronica, Amanda Horning, Sarah Eaton, Zach Eastman, Melissa Le May, Chris Godwin-Sheppard, Alana DeBusschere and Marcus Phillips (University of Saskatchewan), and me. Finding the plots at the burned sites proved challenging, but with a little detective work and some creative thinking, the original plots were found and restaked.

Mike Solohub and Robert Anderson of BioSync Consulting Inc. completed the soil sampling component of the program. A soil pit was dug at the new monitoring sites, and the soil horizons measured and sampled. The soil pit sampling and measurement is required to confirm that the site is located on the proper soil system for the monitoring program. Separate from the soil pit, a series of soil samples were taken from the soil plots. These samples will be analysed in the Canadian Forest Service laboratory in Victoria BC. The results of these analyses will tell us if the soils at one or more sites is being affected by acid deposition. Over 1,700 samples were collected, and the laboratory has begun the analyses. Data are expected in 2012.

Dean MacKenzie, Kevin Renkema, Erin Belva, Ashley Craig, and Jamie Lypowy from Navus Environmental Inc. completed the vegetation component of the program. Jack pine tree heights were measured using a laser device, and trunk diameters were measured using a special tape measure.

At the new sites, a set of tree cores were taken to determine tree age, which is necessary to know in order to properly interpret the results of the field measurements and laboratory analyses.

A pole pruner was used to cut a branch from near the top of five trees at each site, and detailed growth measurements were taken on these branches. About 400 samples of needles were collected for chemical analyses at the CFS laboratory in Victoria, BC.

The chemical composition of these needles will be tested to determine if they have been affected by exposure to air emissions. Another set of 200 needle samples was collected and sent to Dr. Sirkku Manninen in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The structure and chemical composition of the waxy layer on the needle surface will be examined, which provide early warning of change in tree condition following air emission exposure.

The Navus crew also completed a survey of the species growing in each plot at each monitoring site. Species composition can change over time in response to stress, including stress created by air emissions and deposition. Comparing the soil chemistry, needle chemistry and species composition data is a means by which environmental responses to air emissions can be identified and quantified.

Dr. Keith Puckett of ECOFIN completed the lichen sampling component. Keith's 30-year career includes tenure as a research scientist looking at the impacts of air pollutant emissions on plants and particularly lichens, which later evolved into a position as Director of the Air Quality Research Division of Environment Canada.

Lichens are small slow-growing, long-lived organisms found on rocks, trees and soil. Lichens have a long history in air pollution monitoring, as several lichen species accumulate substances emitted into the air, and/or respond very strongly to air emissions. Keith collected samples of Hypogymnia physodes and Evernia mesomorpha from the branches of trees at each site (except where they had been burned). Each of the 40 samples were sorted, cleaned, packaged, and sent for chemical analysis at the US EPA laboratory in North Carolina.

Tom Hutchinson, Regional Forest Health Officer with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, examined the trees at each site for the presence of insects and diseases, and determined the health of each individual tree. Observations in other forests have led to the understanding that trees exposed to air emissions may become more susceptible to insect infestation or disease. Tom, assisted by Marty Robillard (also of ASRD), and WBEA staff, looked at nearly 1,000 trees in this forest health assessment component of the program.

Soil is a complex system of minerals, organic material, roots, and microorganisms. Dr. Sue Grayston, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Soil Microbial Ecology, at the University of British Columbia, and graduate student Carolyn Churchland collected soil samples at each of the 23 monitoring sites for an analysis of bacteria and fungal composition. These 345 samples are now being analyzed by Kate Del Bel in Dr. Grayston's UBC laboratory.

The most significant logistical challenge of the program is the remote location of the monitoring sites. Only one of the plots is accessible by road, and it is a 2-hour drive from Fort McMurray. Access to the rest of the plots requires helicopter flights ranging from 10 minutes to one hour, one-way. Moving multiple crews to and from Fort McMurray, or between sites, required substantial planning and most importantly, flexibility and adaptation by all program participants. Lakeshore Helicopter pilots Don Cleveland, Al Menard, and Greg Mahon were very helpful in guiding our flight planning, and very skilled at getting the field teams to, from, and between sites.

Each component of the program began with a safety briefing, and safety matters were discussed and addressed throughout the program. Safety items raised by the field crews were addressed, so that risks were constantly reduced. The 2011 Forest Health Monitoring Program was completed injury-free.

The results of the 2011 Forest Health Monitoring Program will be compared with those obtained during the 1998 and 2004 sampling programs. This comparison will allow us to determine if the jack pine forest is changing over time, and if so, if air emissions and deposition are the cause of the change(s). Because of the number of laboratory analyses to be completed, and the volume of data to be processed, we expect that the report will take at least a year to prepare.

WBEA produced a video capturing some of the highlights of the field work conducted during the sampling season. Please click to view the video: Forest Health Survey Phase 1: Field Sample Collection

Scientific input and oversight is an important feature of the TEEM Forest Health Monitoring Program. Scientific credibility of the program means that the results are believable, and can be used in the management of air emissions in the region. Some of the scientists involved in the program have been with TEEM since the beginning, while others have been welcomed into the program in 2011. In addition to those mentioned above, the following scientists are key members of the TEEM team:

Dr. Kevin Percy, science advisor to TEEM since 2006, Lead Scientist 2009-2011, and now WBEA Executive Director, has published extensively on air pollution-forest response and on monitoring designs for forest health. Kevin proposed the forest health model to TEEM in 2007 and has been involved since in its implementation.

Dr. Doug Maynard, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, soil scientist and WBEA science advisor, has been involved in the region since 1998. Doug leads the soil disturbance working group at Pacific Forestry Centre (Victoria BC) focusing on a variety of issues related to forest soil disturbance. Doug provides scientific oversight to WBEA's field sampling protocols and laboratory analytical procedures. He is overseeing the analyses of soil and plant samples at the CFS laboratory managed by David Dunn and Grace Ross, and will be examining the data generated by the laboratory and providing key input into the statistical analyses of the data.

Dr. Allan Legge's involvement in environmental matters in the oil sands region predates the founding of WBEA and TEEM. Allan is an ecologist and President of BioSphere Solutions, and is a member of the WBEA science advisory team. Allan's experience in environmental responses to air emissions is extensive, including the experimental work at Whitecourt, AB, where many of the procedures applied in the TEEM Forest Health Monitoring Program were first developed. Allan continues to bring a wealth of local, provincial, Canadian and international expertise to the programs.

This year, TEEM and WBEA welcome Dr. Ellen MacDonald to the program. Ellen is Professor of Forest Ecology in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta. Ellen's research focuses on the influence of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the ecology and plant biodiversity of the boreal forest, regeneration processes and successional dynamics of boreal mixed wood forests, and environmental impacts of forest management. Ellen worked collaboratively with the Navus Environmental Inc. vegetation team, providing insight and guidance to the measurement of composition and abundance of each plant species present at each of the monitoring sites. Ellen will be assisting in the statistical analyses of these data, as well as the data generated by the analysis of needle samples, and in the interpretation of the data and analyses.