Post-fire all-natural reference sites, which had been previously forested stands. We Tenidap Technical Information selected the reference web sites, a single per mining web site, based on their proximity to the respective mine internet sites as well as the time considering the fact that the final fire disturbance. Provided the pretty restricted number of reference web sites fitting our criteria, our selected organic reference web pages did not burn within the exact same years because the reclamation (2012 at Niobec and 2015 at Mont-Wright) within our experimental web-sites. Close to the Niobec mine, our reference website was a mixed forest stand that burned in 2007 (48 29 30.4 N, 71 00 53.3 W), along with the Mont-Wright reference stand was a young black spruce forest that burned in 2007 (52 15 11.0 N, 67 41 27.five W). two.two. Experimental Design and style At the Niobec tailing storage facilities website, we established, in 2012, a total randomized block and factorial design (split-split-plot) with 4 replicates. We tested ten reclamation remedies involving combinations of organic amendments (topsoil or topsoil paper mill sludges (PMS) mixture) and revegetation with trees (larch (Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch), paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marshall), red pine (Pinus resinosa Aiton), a therapy with all the 3 mixed tree species (larch, paper birch, and red pine), plus a control with no trees). At the Niobec web page, a ten cm layer of topsoil was spread onto the tailings from an all-terrain car (Caterpillar D10) and evened out more than the ground. The automobile operator also removed any massive rocks located within the topsoil. The topsoil had been excavated from a different location in the tailing facility and stockpiled for two years prior to its use. We split each and every block (25 m 600 m) into two main plots. Every plot was randomly attributed to among two organic amendment remedies: (1) no application of amendment or (two) the application (and rototilling) of PMS (PF-06873600 In Vitro obtained from Resolute Forest Goods, Jonqui e, Qu ec; see Table 1 for its chemical traits) at a price of 35 Mg(dry) a-1 . The PMS applied contained an extremely low concentration of heavy metals (analyses not shown), in accordance with Canadian requirements [48]. We, then, divided every single primary plot into 5 equal subplots (25 m 60 m) in which we planted 40 to 60 cm-tall trees at a density of 2250 trees a-1 (2 2 m spacing). We selected the tree species according to 11 criteria, which includes tolerance to drought, nutrient needs, and cost (unpublished data), which had been developed by Niobec, Inc. We randomly attributed certainly one of 5 selected tree covers to every subplot. The tree cover was either (1) no trees planted; (two) Larix laricina; (3) Pinus resinosa (specimens of each Larix laricina and Pinus resinosa had been obtained from the Normandin nursery with the Qu ec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks); (four) Betula papyrifera (obtained in the Boucher nursery, St-Ambroise, Qu ec); (five) a mixture of all three tree species. We, then, seeded all plantation plots with clovers (Trifolium spp.) at a price of 50 kg a-1 . A clover therapy (devoid of tree) represents the business-as-usual reclamation scenario in the Niobec internet site.Land 2021, ten,four ofTable 1. Chemical characteristics of amendments made use of to reclaim tailing facilities at the Niobec and Mont-Wright tailing storage facilities. Internet site Amendments pH C:N ratio Total C (g g-1 ) Total N (g g-1 ) Total P (g g-1 ) Total K (g g-1 ) Niobec PMS 7.64 23.3 350.0 15.0 2.182 0.830 Mont-Wright Norco (Chicken Manure) eight.four 295.65 36.5 ten.77 18.PMS 7.47 29 464 16.00 two.200 0.For the Mont-Wright website, reclamation began on th.