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Good evening,

The area I chose to observe is along the Lone Wolf Golf Course in Taylor, BC.  The area of observation (site) is located at the walking path intersection located east of a residential cul-de-sac located at the east end of Fairway Ave.

The site is approximately 100m x 100m, has an easterly gradient of 3-5%.  The top 30cm of soil in this area is characterized by an organic matter layer from 0 to 5 cm; soft, grey silty clay with some sand from 5 to 15cm, and firm brown silty clay with some sand from 15cm to 30cm.

Lone Wolf Golf Course is located in “the Peace Lowland Ecosection which is characterized by deep sedimentary bedrock, and has mildest climate, and lowest snowfall in the Ecoprovince, Peace River Basin. Summer brings high humidity, localized showers and occasional clouds. During the winter, Arctic air can bring long periods of extreme cold temperatures but clear skies. Boreal white and black spruce forests are typical. Trembling aspen and shrub-grasslands are common. There are sparse white spruce and lodgepole pine stands throughout region in areas of well-drained soil. Black spruce occurs in areas of excessive moisture such as muskeg, (Demarchi, D.A, 2011).”

The site is a forested area that has single family residents adjacent to the west and the 4th Hole tee box to the east.  Separating the residents is a 1m asphalt walking path.  Trees observed were poplar and pine trees and shrubs found were saskatoons, carraghana, currents, snowberries, black gooseberry, trailing black currant and prickly rose.  There were daisies, bluebells, many grass varieties, stink weed and significant organic ground cover including fallen poplar trees, piles of grass clippings and tree branches.

Wildlife heard were squirrel chatter and two different birds.

Three questions I would like to explore going forward are:

1. What evidence of daily human interaction is visible at this site?
2. What wildlife occupies this site?
3. How prominent are native species in this area?

I will upload my field notes as soon as I figure out how to…

Regards, Marla

References:

Demarchi, D.A., (2011). The British Columbia Ecoregion Classification, 3^rd Edition. March 2011, Ecosystem Information Section, Ministry of Environment. Victoria, BC. Ecology, Part II Ecoregion Unit Descriptions. Retrieved September 26, 2017 from http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/ecology/ecoregions/polareco.html

Blog Post 1: Observations

Michelle Harrison

22-09-2017

The area that I have selected to observe is Macaulay Park. This is a treasured place, & one I visit on a daily basis. Macaulay Park is a 7.6 hectare (18.78 acre) municipal park located in Esquimalt, BC (Coordinates- Latitude: 48.418815 Longitude: -123.410113).

The park began as a part of the Hudson Bay Farm & then became a part of Fort Macaulay in 1878. The old military site still remains, & the land is dotted with old concrete war barracks & ammunition buildings, under/above ground concrete tunnels & lookout points to take in the beautiful ocean front vista. The topography is made up of rolling hills, rocky waterfront outcrops, glacial till & the vegetation that surrounds it is made up of native& non-native plants, a forested area, a wetland / marsh with long grasses. Macaulay has been a municipal park since 1985 & is owned by the DND (Department of National Defense) & maintained by the Municipality of Esquimalt.

It is a popular place for dog walkers, bird watchers & families. It is a common occurrence to see life here in many forms, including deer, otters, seals, sea birds, eagles, plus a variety of insects & pollinators. This park contains some rare & endangered species which are protected federally under SARA-Canada’s Species at Risk Act. Due to this, park visitors & their pets are required to stay out of designated risk areas, in order to protect the remaining species at risk.

The park contains many beautiful native, non-native & invasive plants including Wild rose (Rosa acicularis), Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), Dense Flowered Lupins (Lupinus densiflorus), Gumweed (Grindelia), Wild onions (Allium), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Biscuit roots (Lomatium) & Himalayan Blackberries (Rubus armeniacus), & a lovely cluster of trembling Aspen trees (Populus tremuloides). When I visited the park today at 0800am, the weather was cloudy with light wind, 11 degrees, and it is the first day of fall.

Based on my daily observations & time spent at Macaulay Park, I have come up with three questions that will form the subject of my research project:

1. The land at Macaulay Park contains species at risk. I witness on a daily basis, people walking their dogs in areas that are labeled as conservation / no entry zones. We do not seem to have any type of monitoring / park services to control humans & their pets. What affect does this have on the conservation areas & species at risk? Is this space being monitored & are the observations of the impact being reported to a higher authority on a regular basis?
2. McLaughlin point (which is connected to the tail end of Macaulay Point) will soon be the home of the new sewage tertiary treatment plant for all of the waste from the core of Victoria. An incredible amount of waste will be shipped to this site & filtered, before being pumped to a local landfill for disposal, all via pumps & pipes which will be installed in land & ocean to travel the waste great distances. How will the construction of this waterfront treatment plant affect the very active local wildlife & ecosystems on the land, in the air, & in the ocean, for years to come?
3. Macaulay point is home to a few invasive non-native species (such as Scotch broom & Himalayan blackberry). How does this affect the native plants & more specifically, the species at risk, such as Dense Flowered Lupin and the Purple Sanicle?

The site that I have selected to conduct my field study is a forested area near my home north of Squamish, BC. I first visited the site on August 28 just before 7:00 pm. The day was hot (~30°C) and sunny and there had been no precipitation since June so the vegetation was very dry.

The site is located mid-slope on a terraced/undulating hillside with a westerly aspect. The undulations in the slope are formed by almost regularly spaced rock outcrops. Less than 50 m downslope of the site is a hydro power transmission line and cut block. The site is located on public forest land that has been previously harvested. I chose an area of approximately 20 m by 20 m to be my study site.

The forest is mature and the canopy cover is approximately 35%. The dominant species is Douglas-fir while western redcedar and lodgepole pine are also present. The shrub cover is dense at approximately 85% and is largely dominated by salal. Other shrub species include red and black huckleberry, Saskatoon, and red elderberry, as well as seedlings of western redcedar. I noted bracken fern in the depressions between rock outcrops but no other herbaceous species. The outcrops were covered in mosses (total cover of approximately 40%), which I identified as step moss, big red stem, and broom moss.

While I was at the site, a family of Ruffed Grouse moved through the area. The mother stood guard on top of one of the rock outcrops while the 3 young moved around in the undergrowth. I sat quite still and a couple of them came within a couple of metres from me.

Some questions of interest about this site are:
1) whether the species composition and cover of mosses vary with the position (crest, slope, depression) and aspect on the rock outcrops;
2) whether there is a difference in stand composition with distance from the cut line downslope; and
3) an investigation into why western redcedar seemed to be the dominant regenerating species (i.e. the most seedlings) while Douglas-fir is the dominant tree species.