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The study area I have chosen for my field research project is Colony Farm Regional Park, located in the Cities of Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam, BC. The Coquitlam River that flows through the park is the physical boundary between the two cities. Colony Farm, approximately 236 hectares in size, is bound by the Lougheed Highway to the west, the Mary Hill Bypass to the south, and Shaughnessy Street to the east. Once an operating farm owned by the Province, the park is now managed as a regional park by Metro Vancouver. Land use is associated with passive recreation, agriculture, and wildlife management. A link to the park map is provided below.
The park is navigable via the existing dike network and is generally flat. Cessation of farming activities has allowed for the establishment of expansive old-field habitat. Other habitat types include mixed deciduous/coniferous forest (predominantly along park edges), marsh, wetland, riverine, riparian, and hedgerow. Drainage ditches and small waterways are also prevalent along the existing trails.
I visited Colony Farm on July 2, 2018, at 1900 hours. Weather conditions at the time of the visit were clear, calm, and approximately 17 degrees Celsius. Based on my initial observations I have generated the following three questions:
- How does species richness vary amongst the different habitat types within the park? More specifically, which habitat type supports the greatest number of bird species and why?
- What factors contribute to the spatial arrangement of red elderberry bushes that occur within the old field habitat portions of the park?
- Do waterfowl selectively use waterways within the park that contain the greatest density of emergent vegetation? Does this vary between life stages? (fledgling, juvenile, adult)
