Abstract: Placer mining occurs extensively in parts of the Yukon, denuding riparian zones and lining valley bottoms with mine tailings. Revegetation of tailings was examined at two placer mines near Mayo to determine the influence of environmental variables on the speed and direction of the natural process. Vegetation species density and frequency on various substrates were compared with: age, slope and aspect of the site, and pH, particle size distribution, moisture content and organic content of the soill. In central Yukon, tailings are first colonized by ruderal (weedy pioneer) species such as fireweed and members of the Compositae (dandelion) family. These are replaced by willow-dominated communities after nine years. Willow communities support many species characteristic of the adjacent undistrubed black spruce forest, suggesting that the placer succession is similar to that of riverbank environments in interior Alaska. Revegetation of the tailings proceeds at the same rate for the first twelve years as does that following natural disturbance. Of the environmental factors examined, only age and slope were, statistically, associated with rate of revegetation. Both the percent cover and the number of species at a site were inversely associated with slope, suggesting that reduction of slope angle enhances vegetation regeneration.

Authors: Wilson, C.E., Hutchinson, T.C., and Burn, C.R.

Map Scale: 1 : 0

NTS Mapsheet(s): 105M

Citation: Wilson, C.E., Hutchinson, T.C., and Burn, C.R., 1996. Natural revegetation of placer mine tailings near Mayo, central Yukon. In: Yukon Quaternary Geology - Volume 1 - 1996, LeBarge, W.P. (ed), Indian & Northern Affairs Canada/Department of Indian & Northern Development: Exploration & Geological Services Division, 47-62.

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