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Abstract We investigated the impacts of resource access roads on soil enzyme activities in contrasting forested boreal peatlands (bog and fen). In August 2016, a total of 72 peat samples were collected from twelve 20 m long transects perpendicular to access roads, with a further six samples collected from undisturbed reference areas. Sampling locations represent a range in three variables associated with roads: 1) side of the road (upstream/downstream), 2) distance to a culvert (longitudinal; <2 and >20 m), and 3) distance from the road (lateral; 2, 6, and 20 m). Phenol oxidase and hydrolase (glucosidase, sulfatase, xylosidase, glucosaminidase, and phosphatase) enzyme activities were determined for each sample, in addition to water table depth, phenolic concentration, pH, and peat temperature. The average hydrolase activities in the fen were ~four times higher than in the bog. At the bog, the water table depth, phenolic concentration, pH and the activities of phenol oxidase, sulfatase, glucosidase, xylosidase and glucosaminidase were all significantly influenced by one or more road associated factors. The highest enzyme activities in the bog occurred on the downstream side of the road at plots located far from the culvert. In contrast, the flow of water in the fen was not perpendicular to the road. Consequently, no significant variations in water table depth, phenolic concentration, pH or enzyme activity were found with respect to road associated factors. Results indicate that road crossings in boreal peatlands can indirectly alter enzyme activities, likely as part of a causal chain following changes to hydrology and redox conditions. Two of six investigated enzymes had significantly higher activities in the road disturbed areas compared to undisturbed areas, suggesting ultimately that roads may enhance organic matter decomposition rates. However, adequate hydrologic connections through culverts and road construction parallel to the water flow can minimize the road-induced impacts. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Roads alter local ecohydrology and hydrochemistry that may impact enzyme activity. • We observed changes in water table and enzyme activity in a road-fragmented bog. • Water flow parallel to the road in the fen limited road impact on enzyme activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Roads obstruct surface and sub-surface water flow in peatlands. • Road orientation perpendicular to water flow resulted in upstream flooding in bog. • Road orientation parallel to the water flow minimized hydrological impacts in fen. • Adequate culvert placement connects water flow across road. Resource-access road crossings are expected to alter peatland hydrological properties by obstructing surface and sub-surface water flows. We conducted a multi-year study at two boreal peatlands – a forested bog and a shrubby rich fen near Peace River, Alberta – to study the impacts of resource access roads on the hydrology of adjacent peatland. Field measurements (bi-weekly depth to water table and hydraulic head, one-time hydraulic conductivity) during the growing seasons (May-August) of 2016 and 2017 were taken from sampling plots representing: 1) sides of the road (upstream and downstream); 2) distance from the road (obstruction); and 3) distance from culverts. Compared to the growing season average precipitation for the region of 1.8 mm d−1, the study period had very wet conditions in 2016 (3.7 mm d−1) and dry conditions in 2017 (1.1 mm d−1). In contrast to our assumptions, resource access road disturbed the surface and sub-surface water flow at the bog, but the effect was minimal at the fen as the road orientation was nearly parallel to the flow direction at the latter. At the bog, the shallowest depth to water table position was observed at upstream areas closer to the road, when culverts were located >20 m distance from transects. In contrast, when culverts were present <2 m from the transects, variation in hydrological conditions between upstream and downstream areas were greatly reduced. Our work shows road effects on peatland hydrology could be minimized by aligning roads parallel to the water flow direction when possible. If water flow is perpendicular to the road, adequate spacing and installation of culverts could help to reduce flow obstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peatlands play a significant role in global greenhouse gas (GHG) cycling as they store a significant amount (approx. 550 Gt) of organic carbon in the form of peat. The boreal region of Canada has one of the highest densities of peatlands. However, they have been impacted by various linear disturbances including winter roads, pipelines, seismic lines, oil sand drillings (well-pads), and resource access road construction. A more than 217,000 km long road network has been constructed on the boreal region of Canada to explore and extract natural resources (e.g. oil sands and forestry). Roads on peatlands are raised by placing mineral fill on the compressed peat underneath. Therefore, the road itself acts as a dam and limits the hydrological connection between fragmented parts of the peatland. The resulting hydrological variation may lead to altered GHG emissions, plant community, microbial activity, and soil biogeochemistry in peatlands. However, few studies have quantified the impacts of access roads on boreal peatland carbon dynamics. Therefore, we conducted a study focusing on the impacts of roads on carbon dynamics of a forested bog and a shrubby fen near Peace River, Alberta, Canada. Data was collected in 2016 and 2017 from May to August. The data plots represented three factors: 1) side of the road (upstream and downstream), 2) distance from a culvert (<2 and >20 m), and 3) and distance from either side of the road (2, 6, 20 m). Results from 2016 showed that, overall, the ground layer of the bog was a source (1.66 g CO2 m-2 d-1) and the fen was a sink (-19.06 g CO2 m-2 d-1) of CO2. In 2017, the ground layers of both the bog and fen were sinks of CO2 (-1.35 g CO2 m-2 d-1 and -19.06 g CO2 m-2 d-1, respectively). In general, hydrologic effects of the road were less at the fen due to the orientation of the road relative to the local slope of the peatland. At this site, variation in C fluxes relative the road was also small, but there was an overall reduction in C sink function due to plant community disturbance. At the bog, flooding occurred on the upstream side of the road. This was more severe far from culverts and close to the road. When culverts were in place, water was moved across the road, but wet conditions were created on the downstream side due to concentration flow. This resulted in higher CH4 emissions close to the road and reduced CO2 uptake so that the area near the road had a greatly reduced C and GHG sink function than undisturbed areas, even when culverts were present.However, the carbon flux varied depending on the side of the road, distance from the road, and the distance from the culvert. In our presentation, we will present the main findings of our study and show how resource roads have the potential to alter the carbon dynamics of peatlands. Also, we will recommend measures how the road associated impacts could be minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the correct strategic issues when developing an area is crucial so that the solution can effectively be implemented to the existing dynamics. Unfortunately, determining strategic issues is often disregarded or not taken seriously during the planning process. A Similar mistake of not defining strategic issues appropriately looms over the development of Mekarmanik Village, which is based on the Rasagalor Coffee Educational Tourism Concept. This research aims to understand the development dynamics happening in Mekarmanik Village so that the correct issue could be determined. By using data and information gathered from literature studies, focus group discussions, and field observations two types of analysis were done to correctly determine strategic issues that fit with the existing condition of Mekarmanik Village, namely case study, content analysis, and descriptive analysis. The result shows that the strategic issues of developing Mekarmanik Village as a tourism village are specific education, tourism concept exploration, and physical infrastructure improvement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]