Agricultural Impacts on Water in Alberta

Agricultural activity affects water quality and quantity. Students and professors at the University of Alberta are studying these effects and working with the farming community to find define best practices for this important Alberta economic activity.

• Map of Alberta's wetlands

University of Alberta Research

Larval odonates as bioindicators of cattle grazing and water quality at prairie wetlands Christine Rice graduated from Renewable Resources in the spring of 2004, and studied with Dr. Lee Foote. Ms. Rice conducted vegetation surveys, intensive invertebrate sampling, and created species diversity indices aimed at testing whether odonates, including damselflies and dragonflies, can serve as biological indicators of habitat quality, water quality, grazing intensity or vegetation characteristics.

The Effects of Cattle Grazing on Wetland-dependent Birds in the Aspen Parkland Robb Stavne, picture at right, studied with Dr. Lee Foote in Renewable Resources. He worked to quantify the impacts of grazing on the diversity, nest success, and abundance of wetland birds in the Aspen Parkland east of Edmonton.