Methods

Abstract

Data provide the basis for scientific inquiry. Scientific assertions about the natural world require the gathering and analysis of data and the presentation of results. Provided that the data and the methods employed are documented, findings can be subjected to independent scrutiny and either rejected or accepted. This chapter, technical in nature, describes the vegetation and environment data that form the basis of the study. The study focusses on the vegetation and environment of 417 mineral wetland plots located primarily in Alberta. The main analysis includes 183 plant taxa in 310 mineral wetland plots across five treatments and four vegetation classes. The five treatments are (1) process-affected wetlands exposed to tailings and industrial process water (OSPA), (2) “reference” wetlands adjacent to industrial activities in the bitumen sands region (OSREF), (3) natural wetlands (REF), (4) natural wetlands adjacent to agriculture (AG), and (5) natural wetlands of the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PADREF). The four vegetation classes are (1) willow carrs (thickets and savannahs), (2) marshes and meadows, (3) emergent marshes, and (4) shallow aquatic vegetation. A replicate dataset of 165 taxa in 107 mineral wetland plots stratified into two treatments (“reference” wetlands adjacent to industrial activities (OSREFR) and natural wetlands (REFR)), provides an independent comparison of the main results. The data are analyzed with a variety of multivariate techniques, including multi-response permutation procedures, cluster analysis, indicator species analysis, ordination, and parametric and non-parametric statistics. Results are presented in the form of tables and figures and are illustrated by photographic plates. Analyses of change over time and chemical and physical attributes of water and soil are presented. Ancillary data derived from wetland and rare plant monitoring further characterize and contrast natural wetlands in relation to industrial wetlands.

Statistics are the heart of democracy.

Simeon Strunsky, Topics of the Times, 1944