User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
Kevin Ostapowich
March 23, 2019
The study area is approximately 15 acres of crown land behind my house located approximately 10 km south of Smithers, B.C. It is on the slope of a hillside facing east to slightly north of east. The slope ranges from 0% grade at the bottom to approximately 30% grade at the upper end of the study area. It is a wooded area of mostly deciduous with a minor amount of coniferous tree species. There is no evidence of anthropogenic disturbances such as logging or road building. Up-slope and higher in elevation from the site is a dominantly pine forest.
The most recent site visit was on March 21st, 2019 around 1500 hours. The weather was sunny, warm (10 degrees centigrade), with snow cover on the ground and no wind. The tree types I observed in the forest includes paper birch, cottonwood at the base of the slope, aspen, spruce, and pine. I plan on more thoroughly identifying the species later on in the study. I roughly estimate the forest composition to be approximately 60% poplar, 25% birch, and 15% coniferous. The undergrowth includes willows, devils club, and thimbleberry. There is abundant ungulate (moose) sign throughout the area including tracks, beds, and droppings.
This site is interesting because there seems to be (through my own other observations and talking with other locals) an abundance of birch on this site compared to other sites around the Bulkley Valley. It is also a widely spaced deciduous forest in an area where much of the forests are primarily coniferous. This leads me to believe that there may have been a disturbance, perhaps fire, that lead to the deciduous community coming up in succession. Questions I have about this site are:
- Is this a site of a natural disturbance?
- Are the majority of tree species in this forest typical to disturbance-succession environments?
- Is the distribution and abundance of birch trees at this site consistent with other sites around the Bulkley Valley region?
