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Using permanent transects, geo indicators are tracked annually to monitor the effects of long term erosion and deposition processes and significant erosional events to ecologically sensitive sand dune ecosystems.

The health of individual amphibians, amphibian populations, and their wetland habitats are monitored in the oil sands region and at reference locations. Contaminants assessments are done at all sites. Amphibians developing near oil sands activities may be exposed to concentrations of oil sands-related contaminants, through air emissions as well as water contamination. The focus of field investigations is to evaluate the health of wild amphibian populations at varying distances from oil sands operations.

Local-scale projects focus on gaps in our understanding of complex response patterns at regional scales by targeting specific habitats or development features of interest. Environment and Climate Change Canada is monitoring how and why boreal birds respond to oil sands development features using 25-hectare survey sites selected to represent a range of disturbance intensities from low to high. Sites are visited multiple times during the breeding season, from early May through early July, to count the number of individual birds within the study site. The monitoring design targets habitat and disturbance types that have limited information.

Regional-scale monitoring focuses on understanding how and why boreal songbirds, including several Species at Risk, are affected by human activity across the Peace, Athabasca and Cold Lake oil sands area. Data are collected across multiple habitat types and across a range of disturbance intensities from low to high. Bird data were collected in various habitats, including some previously unsurveyed habitats, to fill information gaps in bird-habitat associations. Dataset 1 (2011–2013) comprises bird surveys in 41 representative habitat types within the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake oil sands areas.

The estuary lagoons at Kejimkujik Seaside are important transition zones between saltwater and freshwater habitats providing a rich diversity of niches for organisms, including important nursery areas for some marine species. These barrier beaches are moving landward. It is necessary that they continue this movement since artificial stabilization could mean the linear or offshore movement of the sand, effectively exposing these lagoons and changing them into bays. By tracking this change dynamic, park managers will obtain advanced warning of accelerated sand shifts and the ability of the dunes to react to storm surge events and sea level change.

Alberta leases Oil Sands mineral rights to companies for exploration and development of resources. This is a schedule of sales offerings and results.

To assess the toxicity of winter-time atmospheric deposition in the oil sands mining area of Northern Alberta, embryo-larval fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to snowmelt samples. Snow was collected in 2011–2014 near (< 7 km) oil sands open pit mining operations in the Athabasca River watershed and at sites far from (> 25 km) oil sands mining. Snow was shipped frozen back to the laboratory, melted, and amended with essential ions prior to testing. Fertilized fathead minnow eggs were exposed (< 24 h post-fertilization to 7–16 days post-hatch) to a range of 25%–100% snowmelt.

Constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs) could provide a passive, low-energy strategy for mitigating risks associated with oil sands process-affected waters (OSPWs). Due to the large volumes (over 975 million m3), heterogeneous composition, and acute and chronic toxicity of OSPW, passive and efficient treatment to decrease risks to biota will be necessary once operators obtain regulatory permission to discharge into aquatic receiving systems. The research objective was to design, assemble, and measure performance of a pilot-scale hybrid CWTS for treatment of OSPW. Constituents of concern (COCs) identified in OSPW included NAs, oil and grease, As, B, Cu, Pb, and Zn.

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s cause-effect monitoring is focused on understanding how boreal songbirds, including several Species at Risk, are affected by human activity in the oil sands area, particularly the impact of the physical disturbance of forested habitats from exploration, development and construction of oil sands. Determining the abundance of songbird species associated with various habitat type(s) and understanding how the type and number of birds varies with type and amount of habitat, are important components of assessing the effect of habitat disturbance. Regional-scale monitoring focuses on understanding how and why boreal songbirds, including several Species at Risk, are affected by human activity across the Peace, Athabasca and Cold Lake oil sands area. Local-scale projects focus on addressing gaps in our understanding of complex response patterns at regional scales by targeting specific habitats or development features of interest.

Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nest boxes are installed in oil sands area and in reference locations to monitor contaminant levels and impacts on tree swallow nestlings. The exposure to tree swallow nestlings to air-borne oil sands-related contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is assessed using passive air samplers. Measures of avian health are examined in relation to location of sampling and contaminants measured.