Biomarkers of novel ecosystem development in boreal forest soils

• Published in: Organic geochemistry 2013-11, Vol.64, p.9-18
• Main Authors: Norris, Charlotte E., Dungait, Jennifer A.J., Joynes, Adrian, Quideau, Sylvie A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alkanes; biomarkers; boreal forests; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; ecosystems; Exact sciences and technology; forest soils; land restoration; leaves; lipids; Marine and continental quaternary; oils; peat; Populus tremuloides; sand; soil organic matter; Soils; Sphagnum; surface mining; Surficial geology; trees
• ISSN: 0146-6380; 1873-5290
• DOI: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2013.08.014

•Natural and novel boreal ecosystems were examined for n-alkane signatures.•Concentration of n-alkanes in novel ecosystems was half that in natural.•Novel ecosystems were different in n-alkane distribution from natural.•Distribution of n-alkanes changed with stand age in novel ecosystems. Novel ecosystem development is occurring within the western boreal forest of Canada due to land reclamation following oil sand surface mining. Sphagnum peat is the primary organic amendment used to reconstruct soil in these novel ecosystems. We hypothesised that ecosystem recovery would be indicated by an increasing similarity in the biomolecular characteristics of novel soil organic matter (SOM) derived from peat to those of natural boreal ecosystems. We evaluated the use of the homologous series of long chain (⩾ C21) n-alkanes with odd/even predominance to monitor the re-establishment of boreal forest on these anthropogenic soils. The lipids were extracted from dominant vegetation inputs and SOM from a series of natural and novel ecosystem reference plots. Twice the concentration of n-alkanes was extracted from natural than from novel ecosystem SOM (p