Evaluating ‘Non-Conventional Alternatives’ for Pit and Quarry Rehabilitation

New research about alternative strategies for the rehabilitation of pits and quarries is being conducted by Dr. Robert Corry in the Landscape Architecture department at the University of Guelph. This research involves collecting data about prior restoration and rehabilitation approaches on aggregate extraction sites to model whether non-conventional approaches to rehabilitation might be more cost-efficient, ecologically-sound and culturally-effective. By using these models, researchers will: (1) compare changes in the ecology of the landscape that result from different rehabilitation designs; and (2) measure how different rehabilitation strategies contribute to large-scale pattern in the landscape. The alternate rehabilitation strategies can be evaluated based on ecological criteria such as habitat connectivity, as well as financial costs. In addition to the modeling work, the societal acceptance of the alternate rehab strategies is being tested by surveying the responses of stakeholders to digital photographic simulations of the alternative end-points for the sites.

Last year a spatial database of aggregate pits and quarries in Ontario was created, and data regarding existing land cover and terrain across Ontario was incorporated into a Geographic Information System. As well, over 700 images of typical and non-conventional rehab approaches were gathered (including some aerial photography). Non-conventional approaches that have been documented include spontaneous revegetation (or no rehabilitation), alvar vegetation, and designed alternatives such as parks or gardens.

Throughout 2006 this work will continue with researchers categorizing the different rehabilitation approaches as ‘typical or standard’ versus ‘non-conventional’, and developing the ecological models to test the efficiency of the different rehabilitation strategies.