Anthony J. Gaston Todd E. Golumbia Lessons from the Islands Jean-Louis Martin Introduced species and Sean T. Sharpe (editors) what they tell us about how ecosystems work Special Publication Canadian Wildlife Service Gaston, Golumbia, Martin, Sharpe (Eds.) Lessons from the Islands Anthony J. Gaston Lessons from the Islands Todd E. Golumbia Jean-Louis Martin Introduced species and what they Sean T. Sharpe tell us about how ecosystems (editors) work Special Publication Canadian Wildlife Service Proceedings from the Research Group on Introduced Species 2002 Symposium held in Queen Charlotte City, British Columbia, on 1–5 October 2002 Également disponible en français sous le titre Leçons des îles : Les espèces introduites et ce qu’elles nous apprennent sur le fonctionnement des écosystèmes. Environnement Canada, publication spéciale This document may be cited as follows: Gaston, A.J.; Golumbia, T.E.; Martin, J.-L.; Sharpe, S.T. (eds). 2008. Lessons from the Islands: introduced species and what they tell us about how ecosystems work. Proceedings from the Research Group on Introduced Species 2002 Symposium, Queen Charlotte City, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Ottawa Cover Background photo Caption: Fog and shoreline at SGang Gwaay Credit: RGIS, Jean-Louis Martin Photo of swimming deer Credit: RGIS, Tony Gaston Inside of front cover: Caption: Satellite image of Haida Gwaii Credit: Gowgaia Institute, Box 638, Queen Charlotte, Haida Gwaii, Canada V0T 1S0, www.spruceroots.org Inside of back cover: Caption: Satellite image of Laskeek Bay Credit: Gowgaia Institute, Box 638, Queen Charlotte, Haida Gwaii, Canada V0T 1S0, www.spruceroots.org © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Environment, 2008. All rights reserved. Catalogue no. xxx ISBN xxx ISSN xxx On line in HTML and PDF at http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/publications Catalogue no. xxx ISBN xxx Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Main entry title: March 2008 About the Research Group on Introduced Species and the 2002 Symposium The Research Group on Introduced Species (RGIS) Lessons from the Islands—reviews of research was founded in 1996 to conduct research and publicize on biodiversity impacts of introduced deer and information on the effects of introduced species on natural squirrels carried out by the RGIS; ecosystems within the Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Restoration: potential and challenges—descrip- Islands) archipelago in British Columbia, Canada. In 2001, it tions of the deer culls carried out on two islands, was registered as a nonprofi t trust based in Queen Charlotte the resulting vegetation recovery, and the City. It works in collaboration with several federal and likelihood of deer reimmigration; provincial government agencies (Environment Canada, Parks Canada Agency, and the B.C. Ministry of Environment), Lessons from elsewhere—a review of introduced with the Centre national de la recherche scientifi que, species impacts and case studies of deer Montpellier, France, and with a local conservation group, the introductions, deer overabundance, and deer Laskeek Bay Conservation Society. management elsewhere in North America; and The main thrust of RGIS projects has been to Conclusions—brief summaries of the symposium explore the impacts of introduced black-tailed deer and, outputs. to a lesser extent, red squirrels on forest ecology in the archipelago. The emphasis has been on natural forest ecosystems, but work on commercially managed forests has also been conducted. A major fi eld program, aimed at elucidating the costs of the deer introduction to the overall biodiversity of the archipelago, was conducted during 1996–2002, involving 14 scientists and 9 graduate students. Part of the mandate of the RGIS is to improve the dissemination of information about introduced species and the consequences of overabundant ungulate populations, both on Haida Gwaii and farther afi eld. To this end, a symposium was convened in Queen Charlotte City in October 2002 to review the results of RGIS projects to that date, to obtain reactions from local people, and to promote future activity towards introduced species control in the Queen Charlotte Islands. In addition, the RGIS invited the participation of several senior researchers with experience in introduced species or ungulate overabundance problems throughout North America, especially those involving deer. Their presence was important in bringing a broader perspective to the meeting and in making available experience obtained elsewhere. This volume comprises the following sections: Background—an introduction to the ecology of Haida Gwaii and of the black-tailed deer in the forests of the Pacific rim and a description of the history of vertebrate introductions in the archipelago; iii Acknowledgements Funding for the research of the Research Group This publication was produced by Publishing on Introduced Species was provided by Environment and Creative Services in the Communications Branch Canada; Parks Canada Agency (Gwaii Haanas National of Environment Canada. The following people were Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site); the Canada–British responsible: Maureen Kavanagh, Susan Burns, and Columbia South Moresby Forest Replacement Account Pierre Faucher—coordination; Linda Bartlett and (SMFRA) (Contract No. SMFRA99DQC-002, SMFRA Georgiana Chung—layout; Marla Sheffer (contract Project 24.2, “Pattern of Western Red Cedar Regeneration”); editor)—scientifi c editing; France Bélanger—French editing the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifi que and the and Chris Pitre—English proofreading and Nicole Parent— Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France (PICS 489); and French proofreading. Forest Renewal British Columbia, a partnership of forest companies, workers, environmental groups, First Nations, communities, and the government of British Columbia (Research Award PA97335-BRE) (Forest Renewal BC funding—from stumpage fees and royalties that forest companies pay for the right to harvest timber on Crown lands—is reinvested in forests, forest workers, and forest communities). Funding assistance by Forest Renewal BC does not imply endorsement of any statements or information contained herein. Environment Canada, Parks Canada Agency, and the Laskeek Bay Conservation Society provided valuable logistic support. The British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Skeena Region, gave permission to conduct research in the Wildlife Management Area of Laskeek Bay, and the Archipelago Management Board gave permission for research conducted in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve. We thank all those who worked with us during 1996–2002 in the fi eld, in the laboratory, and in the library, and all the colleagues who provided expertise and assistance in the disciplines with which we were less familiar. Special thanks go to our students: Sylvain Allombert, Christophe Baltzinger, Isabel Buttler, Tanguy Daufresne, Christian Engelstoft, Mathieu Joron, Steve Stockton, Bruno Vila, and Gwenaël Vourc’h; and to our coordinators: Barb Rowsell, Greg Martin, and Tarmo Poldmaa. We thank Kathy Martin for a complete review of the fi nal document. Particular thanks for a whole range of services go to Rob Kelly. We are most grateful to the people of Haida Gwaii for their help and patience during the carrying out of this research. The work of individuals in association with the various RGIS projects is acknowledged in the relevant papers. iv Contents Contributors vi Restoration: Potential and challenges Frontispiece A viii Reduction in deer numbers on Reef Island and Frontispiece B ix SGang Gwaay: progress, results, and vegetation Background changes 103 Anthony J. Gaston, Sean Sharpe, Stephen A. Stockton, An introduction to the plant ecology of Haida Gwaii 3 Todd Golumbia, and Jean-Louis Martin Jim Pojar Estimating deer colonization rates to offshore islands History and current status of introduced vertebrates of Haida Gwaii using microsatellite markers 117 on Haida Gwaii 8Tom E. Reimchen, R.J. Nelson, and C.T. Smith Todd Golumbia, Lisa Bland, Keith Moore, and Patrick Bartier Lessons from elsewhere Changes in vegetation of Haida Gwaii in historical time 32 Science and the management of introduced species 123 Jim Pojar Daniel Simberloff Ecology of black-tailed deer in north coastal White-tailed deer impacts in North American and the environments 39 challenge of managing a hyperabundant herbivore 135 Michael P. Gillingham Donald M. Waller A conceptual framework for introduced species White-tailed deer population reduction and control research in Haida Gwaii 48 in four southwest Ontario protected heritage areas 148 Anthony J. Gaston and Jean-Louis Martin Dan Reive and Bill Stephenson Lessons from the Islands High herbivore density and boreal forest ecology: white-tailed deer on Anticosti Island 154 Introduction to the terrestrial ecology of Laskeek Bay 55 Steeve D. Côté, Christian Dussault, Jean Huot, Stephen A. Stockton and Anthony J. Gaston François Potvin, Jean-Pierre Tremblay, and Spread and history of deer impact: the memory of Vanessa Viera the woody plants 57 Social and natural history of moose introduced to Bruno Vila and Jean-Louis Martin Newfoundland 162 The effects of deer on plant diversity 64 Brian E. McLaren Stephen A. Stockton The Alaska perspective—deer populations in the Interaction between Sitka black-tailed deer and presence of wolves 171 western redcedar: lessons from Haida Gwaii 70 Matthew D. Kirchhoff and David K. Person Gwenaël Vourc'h, José Escarré, and Jean-Louis