Bog plant/lichen tissue nitrogen and sulfur concentrations as indicators of emissions from oil sands development in Alberta, Canada

Increasing gaseous emissions of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) associated with oil sands development in northern Alberta (Canada) has led to changing regional wet and dry N and S deposition regimes. We assessed the potential for using bog plant/lichen tissue chemistry (N and S concentrations, C:N and C:S ratios, in 10 plant/lichen species) to monitor changing atmospheric N and S deposition through sampling at five bog sites, 3-6 times per growing season from 2009 to 2016. During this 8-year period, oil sands N emissions steadily increased, while S emissions steadily decreased. We examined the following: (1) whether each species showed changes in tissue chemistry with increasing distance from the Syncrude and Suncor upgrader stacks (the two largest point sources of N and S emissions); (2) whether tissue chemistry changed over the 8 year period in ways that were consistent with increasing N and decreasing S emissions from oil sands facilities; and (3) whether tissue chemistry was correlated with growing season wet deposition of NH4+-N, NO3--N, or SO42--S. Based on these criteria, the best biomonitors of a changing N deposition regime were Evernia mesomorpha, Sphagnum fuscum, and Vaccinium oxycoccos. The best biomonitors of a changing S deposition regime were Evernia mesomorpha, Cladonia mitis, Sphagnum fuscum, Sphagnum capillifolium, Vaccinium oxycoccos, and Picea mariana. Changing N and S deposition regimes in the oil sands region appear to be influencing N and S cycling in what once were pristine ombrotrophic bogs, to the extent that these bogs may effectively monitor future spatial and temporal patterns of deposition

Can plant or lichen natural abundance N-15 ratios indicate the influence of oil sands N emissions on bogs?

Study region: The 140,329 km(2 )Athabasca Oil Sands Administrative Area (OSAA), which contains 8982 km(2) of bogs. Since the late 1970s, N emissions from oil sands development in the OSAA have steadily increased, reaching over 80,000 metric tonnes yr(-1) in 2017.& nbsp;Study focus: If oil sands N emissions have distinct stable isotopic signatures, it may be possible to quantify the extent to which these emissions have affected N cycling in surrounding aquatic, wetland, and terrestrial ecosystems. To assess the potential for 15N as a tracer of oil sands N emissions, we measured natural abundance 15N ratios and tissue N concentrations in 10 plant or lichen species at 6 peatland sites at different distances from the oil sands region, collected on 17 sampling dates over three years (2009-2011).& nbsp;New hydrological insights: To understand how the pressures of changing N and S deposition regimes and hydrologic disturbance interactively affect the region\u27s wetlands, it is critical to understand how these pressures act individually. The epiphytic lichen, Evernia mesomorpha, was the only species that exhibited patterns that could be interpreted as being influenced by oil sands N emissions. The paucity of data on delta N-15 signatures of oil sands related N sources precludes definitive interpretations of delta N-15 in plant or lichen tissues with respect to oil sands N emissions

Is bog water chemistry affected by increasing N and S deposition from oil sands development in Northern Alberta, Canada?

Nitrogen and sulfur emissions from oil sands operations in northern Alberta, Canada have resulted in increasing deposition of N and S to the region\u27s ecosystems. To assess whether a changing N and S deposition regime affects bog porewater chemistry, we sampled bog porewater at sites at different distances from the oil sands industrial center from 2009 to 2012 (10-cm intervals to a depth of 1 m) and from 2009 to 2019 (top of the bog water table only). We hypothesized that: (1) as atmospheric N and S deposition increases with increasing proximity to the oil sands industrial center, surface porewater concentrations of NH4+, NO3-, DON, and SO42- would increase and (2) with increasing N and S deposition, elevated porewater concentrations of NH4+, NO3-, DON, and SO42- would be manifested increasingly deeper into the peat profile. We found weak evidence that oil sands N and S emissions affect bog porewater NH4+-N, NO3--N, or DON concentrations. We found mixed evidence that increasing SO42- deposition results in increasing porewater SO42- concentrations. Current SO42- deposition, especially at bogs closest to the oil sands industrial center, likely exceeds the ability of the Sphagnum moss layer to retain S through net primary production, such that atmospherically deposited SO42- infiltrates downward into the peat column. Increasing porewater SO42- availability may stimulate dissimilatory sulfate reduction and/or inhibit CH4 production, potentially affecting carbon cycling and gaseous fluxes in these bogs

Differential Effects of High Atmospheric N and S Deposition on Bog Plant/Lichen Tissue and Porewater Chemistry across the Athabasca Oil Sands Region

Oil extraction and development activities in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of northern Alberta, Canada, release NO_<i>x</i>, SO_<i>x</i>, and NH_<i>y</i> to the atmosphere, ultimately resulting in increasing N and S inputs to surrounding ecosystems through atmospheric deposition. Peatlands are a major feature of the northern Alberta landscape, with bogs covering 6–10% of the land area, and fens covering 21–53%. Bulk deposition of NH₄⁺–N, NO₃^––N, dissolved inorganic N (DIN), and SO₄^2––S, was quantified using ion-exchange resin collectors deployed at 23 locations, over 1–6 years. The results reveal maximum N and S deposition of 9.3 and 12.0 kg ha^–1 yr^–1, respectively, near the oil sands industrial center (the midpoint between the Syncrude and Suncor upgrader stacks), decreasing with distance to a background deposition of 0.9 and 1.1 kg ha^–1 yr^–1, respectively. To assess potential influences of high N and S deposition on bogs, we quantified N and S concentrations in tissues of two <i>Sphagnum</i> species, two lichen species, and four vascular plant species, as well as surface porewater concentrations of H⁺, NH₄⁺–N, NO₃^––N, SO₄^2––S and dissolved organic N in 19 ombrotrophic bogs, distributed across a 3255 km² sampling area surrounding the oil sands industrial center. The two lichen species (<i>Evernia mesomorpha</i> and <i>Cladonia mitis</i>), two vascular plant species (<i>Rhododendron groenlandicum</i> and <i>Picea mariana</i>), and to a lesser extent one moss (<i>Sphagnum fuscum</i>), showed patterns of tissue N and S concentrations that were (1) highest near the oil sands industrial center and (2) positively correlated with bulk deposition of N or S. Concentrations of porewater H⁺ and SO₄^2––S, but not of NH₄⁺–N, NO₃^––N, DIN, or dissolved inorganic N, also were higher near the oil sands industrial center than at more distant locations. The oil sands region of northern Alberta is remote, with few roads, posing challenges to the monitoring of oil sands-related N and S deposition. Quantification of N and S concentrations in bog plant/lichen tissues and porewaters may serve as a monitoring tool to assess both the local intensity and the spatial extent of bulk N and S deposition, and as harbingers of potential shifts in ecosystem structure and function