User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The location I have chosen to study for my Final Research Project is a small wetland area inside McIntyre Creek Regional park and public trail system in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Approximately four kilometres from the back gate of my residence, following trails I’ve become familiar with over ten years of walking, wild cranberry picking, and unsuccessful fishing, it is a comforting and familiar place that I am ecstatic to explore and observe in an ecological context. The area I’ve focused on is no more than two square kilometers and has varied topography due years of erosion from the creek and human built trails. It is home to many plants and animals, including but not limited to white spruce, lodgepole pine, soap berry (or kinnick-kinnick), wild-rose, various mosses/fungi/lichens, beavers, salmon, large ungulates in passing and various birds. The steep slope descending to the creek reveals white river ash layered between dense clay, and the landing is host to not only a picnic area with interpretive signage but also an active archeological site where one is likely to find churt and obsidian flakes from tools made by early inhabitants. (For detailed trail maps and more information about the area, please follow this link: http://yukonconservation.org/programs/get-outside/mcintyre-creek-self-guided-hikes-and-citizen-science/ ).
My first visit, on May 8th, 2017 at 12:30pm under overcast skies, revealed dry vegetation that has few signs of the arrival of spring. The more sheltered areas of the creek still have some ice and snow that has not cleared, typical of early spring in the Yukon. I did not see a beaver swimming in the pond, which is a likely occurrence, but there was overwhelming evidence of their busy nature in the form of freshly cut willow and aspen. Beaver activity may be an interesting study area for this project, as well as contrasting the plant/fungi species and health on the picnic landing versus at the wetter creek bed level.
Three questions I have about the area that may lay the foundation for my project are:
- How does the vegetation differ between the landing area and creek level and what factors contribute to that?
- Which large ungulate species use the area most frequently and does that draw predators?
- How important is this area to fish for habitat and spawning?
