ECOLOGICAL RESERVE 15, SATURNA ISLAND Terrestrial Ecosystem Inventory
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ECOLOGICAL RESERVE 15, SATURNA ISLAND Terrestrial Ecosystem Inventory Harvey Janszen 2001 1 ECOLOGICAL RESERVE 15, SATURNA ISLAND Terrestrial Ecosystem Inventory 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 History of Reserve ................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 Topography, soils and climate .............................................................................................. 6 1.3 Other Research...................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Project Scope ........................................................................................................................ 9 2.0 METHODS ............................................................................................................................. 10 2.1 Field Work 1999 ................................................................................................................. 10 2.2 Synthesis ............................................................................................................................. 10 3.0 RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Ecological Units present in Ecological reserve 15 ............................................................. 11 FdHw-Salal Ecosystem Unit................................................................................................. 13 HwFd-Kindbergia Ecosystem Unit....................................................................................... 14 Cw-Sword fern Ecosystem Unit ........................................................................................... 15 Cw-Foamflower Ecosystem Unit.......................................................................................... 16 3.2 Provincially significant flora and ecosystem units ............................................................. 17 3.3 Species present tables ......................................................................................................... 17 3.4 Plot characteristics .............................................................................................................. 17 References Cited ....................................................................................................................... 33 Map 1. Location of Saturna Island ecological Reserve (loc # 12) ..................................................... 3 Map 2. Location of Ecological Reserve 15 (Blue) on Saturna Island. .............................................. 4 Map 3. History & Condition of surrounding land............................................................................. 5 Map 4. Overview Ecological reserve 15. Cadastral and polygon boundaries on air photo............. 18 Map 5. NW 1/4 Section of Ecological reserve 15. 1:5000 ............................................................... 19 Map 6. SE 1/4 Section of Ecological reserve 15. 1:5000 ................................................................. 20 Chart 1. Averaged monthly precipitation from June 1989 through December 2000......................... 7 Chart 2. Averaged monthly temperatures from June 1989 through December 2000. ........................ 8 Table 1.Index of continentality for hypermaritime CWH subzones 3-6. ........................................... 8 Table 2. Vascular Plants, Ecological reserve 15............................................................................... 21 Table 3. Bryophytes, Ecological Reserve 15. ................................................................................... 25 Table 4. Lichens, Ecological Reserve 15.......................................................................................... 28 Table 5. Plot index ordered by polygon number............................................................................... 30 Table 6. Plot index ordered by site series, structural stage and physical attributes.......................... 31 Table 7. Ecosystem Unit site modifiers. ........................................................................................... 32 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 History of Reserve Ecological Reserve No. 15 was established May 4, 1971, one of the first group of reserves to be established under the Ecological Reserves Act. It was proposed by T.C. Brayshaw to represent virgin Douglas-fir forest in the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone (CDFa). Changes in the Biogeoclimatic classification system since 1971 now place the reserve in the Very Dry Maritime subzone of the Coastal Western Hemlock zone (CWHxm). Map 1. Location of Saturna Island ecological Reserve (loc # 12) . 3 The reserve covers 131 ha consisting of two quarter sections catercorner northwest and southeast. The entire area is forested and slopes gently to steeply to the north on Saturna Island's southern ridge at elevations from 130 to 320 metres. Map 2. Location of Ecological Reserve 15 (Blue) on Saturna Island. Saturna Island is mostly forested and has a permanent human population of about 325 concentrated in two small settlement areas. This reserve is relatively undisturbed and surrounded by edaphically similar land. The area north and down slope of the northwest quarter (area A on map 3) is privately owned and has been cleared and maintained as open scrub grazing land but the rest of the reserve boundary is forested. The quarter section included in the northeast angle of the reserve (area B) is managed for forestry and has been selectively logged from time to time but a closed canopy has been maintained and forest structure is not significantly different from adjacent undisturbed forest. The quarter included in the southwest angle of the reserve (area C) is undisturbed natural fire regenerated forest about 125 years old. The quarter directly to the west (area D) was heavily logged 25 years ago and suffered serious wind damage a year later. The quarter to the east (area E) was severely burned in the early 1930's. The dense, stagnant Western Hemlock regeneration was salvage logged, thinned and replanted 15 years ago. The south boundary of the southeast quarter (area F) is privately owned and was selectively logged 35 years ago but closed canopy was maintained. Areas B, D and E have recently been purchased by the Pacific Marine Heritage Legacy Fund (PMHLF) for inclusion in a proposed Gulf Islands National Park. Area C is provincial Crown land and is expected to be included in the future park. PMHLF has also acquired a right-of-way along 4 the south boarder of the Southeast quarter in trade for a small area adjacent to the reserve (which has subsequently been cleared and fenced for use as sheep pasture). Map 3. History & Condition of surrounding land Approximately 10% of the area of the reserve, including most of the area of gentlest slopes and most productive soils on the eastern edge of the SE quarter, was logged and not restocked in the late 1940's and now is in late pole/sapling stage regeneration. Natural regeneration in this area was almost 100% Tsuga heterophylla which currently has formed a dense stagnant pole/sapling stand with almost no understorey. A small area in the northwest quarter was logged in the late 1960’s and not restocked. Natural restocking in this area was mostly Pseudotsuga menziesii and growth is currently vigorous. More than half of the area of the Reserve was reported as recently burned in the 1874 land survey of the island and is now approaching mature forest stage. The remainder is mature and old growth forest. 5 1.2 Topography, soils and climate Saturna Island, easternmost of British Columbia's Gulf Islands, lies in the Strait of Georgia off southern Vancouver Island. The island is 12.7 km from northwest to southeast and 4.4 km from north to south. The landscape is made up of two cuestas running northeast to southwest with steep southwest faces and moderately to steeply sloping northeast faces. Maximum elevation is 400 m. Between these highlands is a deep central valley and below the southern ridge a narrow bench runs the length of the island. The 3152 ha of the island are predominantly covered by second-growth forest. The reserve is on the northeast slope of the southern ridge just below the highest point The bedrock of the island has been described by Clapp (1913), Muller and Jeletzky (1970), Muller (1971), England (1989), England and Calon (1991), and England and Hiscott (1992). The Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo series sandstones, shales, and conglomerates, which make up the island, have been faulted, folded, and eroded differentially to form the two massive sandstone ridges which dominate the landscape. The central valley is a deeply eroded anticline stretching across the island forming deep, sheltered inlets at both ends. North to south-running faults form several low, steep- sided passes across the ridges and a series of scarps across the western end of the island. In the Ecological Reserve bedrock of the southeast quarter and the north portion of the northwest quarter of the reserve is Northumberland Formation composed of recessive, grey, silty shale interbedded with thin, very fine-grained sandstones and siltstone layers. Bedrock of the Winstanley group of the Galiano Formation underlies the southern portion of the northwest quarter. These are composed of thick bedded, coarse-grained