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Date of Site Reconnaissance: 2 May 2021
Weather: Partly Cloudy, no precipitation
Temperature: 14 degrees Celsius
Season: Late Spring
A site reconnaissance was completed at the proposed study area which is located immediately west of Ladysmith, BC (Figure 1) on 2 May 2021 from 1345 to 1423. The area is approximately 0.36 km2, with an elevation range of 115 m to 190 m above sea level (asl), with an average elevation of 145 m asl. The study area overlaps with municipal land and provincial crown land and falls within the Coastal Hemlock very dry maritime (CWHxm) biogeoclimatic zone (Government of BC 2021). The study area is comprised of two general habitat types: second growth coniferous forest and open, tall-shrub habitat. It is bounded to the west by Holland Creek and the Ladysmith water filtration facility, to the north by a rocky ridge, and to the south and east by additional clear-cuts (Figure 2). The study area was derived this way so the two available general habitat types were approximately equal in size.
Figure 1: General Location of Study Area
Figure 2: Study Area
The second growth coniferous forest is dominated by coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), with western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and western redcedar (Thuja plicata) being the sub-dominant tree species. The understory is dominated by salal (Gaultheria shallon), with lesser amounts of vine maple (Acer circinatum), oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor var. discolor), and red alder (Alnus rubra) (Photograph 1). The forest is somewhat sloping, with a steeper gradient to the west. This area has a canopy closure of approximately 60 % and a moderate amount of coarse woody debris. The following bird species were recorded in this habitat type during the site reconnaissance:
- Townsend’s warbler (Setophaga townsendii)
- Pacific-slope flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
- Pine siskin (Spinus pinus)
- House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
- Orange-crowned warbler (Leiothlypis celata)
- American robin (Turdus migratorus)
- Brown creeper (Certhia americana)
- Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
Photograph 1: Example of second-growth coniferous forest portion of study area.
The open tall-shrub habitat falls within a right-of-way for a transmission line as well as an additional cleared space (Photograph 2). Vegetation is largely dominated by scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), with lesser amounts of sapling vine maple and red alder, and some small patches of salal. A few mature bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) are also present, but generally the area has no canopy closure. The area has minimal coarse woody debris and is generally flat. The following bird species were recorded in this habitat type during the site reconnaissance:
- Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
- Dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis)
- Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna)
- Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)
- American goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
- American robin
- Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus)
- White-crowned sparrow (Zonatrichia leucophrys)
- Song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
- Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)
Photograph 2: Example of open, tall shrub habitat portion of study area.
Three questions that arose from the site reconnaissance are as follows:
- Which habitat type has a higher bird species richness?
- Which habitat type has a higher bird abundance?
- Do invasive vegetation species have a detrimental effect on local bird populations?
References
Government of BC. 2021. iMap Mapping Tool. [accessed 2 May 2021]. https://maps.gov.bc.ca/ess/hm/imap4m/
