Welcome to CFRAW

CFRAW is a joint research venture among five principal investigators at four Canadian universities in collaboration with seven sponsoring partner companies in the oil sands industry.

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Research Themes

Studies conducted under the umbrella of the CFRAW Project address three research themes:
  1. Carbon Dynamics: How are different forms of biomass (carbon sources) incorporated into the food web as constructed wetlands age?
  2. The influences of oil sands process materials (OSPM) on biological community development and the ultimate productivity of fish and wildlife.
  3. Predicting successional changes in constructed wetlands towards a reference condition, and recommending reclamation strategies that can speed up the process.

Our Goal

The overall goal of the CFRAW project is to develop a set of validated tools that can be used as measures of reclamation success based on a conceptual model of carbon pathways and budgets to assess how the allocation of carbon among compartments changes as wetlands mature. We will use these tools to provide specific recommendations as to which reclamation materials and strategies can most effectively and economically promote development of a naturally functioning reclamation landscape.


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