Advancing native habitat recovery and improving carbon sequestration through harnessing soil microbial resources in Alberta’s Prairie landscape.

Grasslands, invaluable for ecological, agricultural, and socio-cultural reasons, are threatened by invasive species and climate change. As Alberta shifts towards low carbon energy, restoring coal-mining sites in grasslands is imperative. Current restoration efforts usually focus on planting native Prairie grasses, forbs, and shrubs, controlling invasives, and monitoring sites. However, this approach can be costly when plant establishment is low, thus requiring new techniques to ensure better plant establishment and long-term restoration success.