Influences of tailings water, sediments, macrophytes and detritus on zoobenthic community development in constructed wetlands –Results of a reciprocal transplant study
Constructed wetlands using oil sand process materials are being used by the oil sands mining corporations to reclaim the post-mining landscape. A reciprocal sediment transplant study was conducted to measure effects of sediment, water, plant cover, detritus mass and year to year variation on zoobenthic richness, density and relative abundance. Density did not change between wetlands, but the oil sand process water-affected wetland had lower richness than the reference wetland. Zoobenthic relative abundance was influenced by water type, macrophyte density and amount of accumulated detritus in sediment. Zoobenthos density was significantly positively associated with amount of plant cover and detritus combined. Sediment did not directly influence zoobenthic abundance or richness. However, its inhibition of plant percent cover caused an indirect effect
