TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM MAPPING - SLOQUET-HIGH LANDSCAPE UNIT Prepared For: Soo Timber Supply Area Licensee Group Dave Marquis, R.P.F., Licensee Representative c/o Terminal Forest Products Ltd. 12180 Mitchell Rd. Richmond, BC V6V 1M8 Prepared By: Timberline Natural Resource Group 401-958 West 8 th Ave Vancouver, BC V5Z 1E5 March 15, 2008 March 15, 2008 Terminal Forest Products Ltd. 12180 Mitchell Road Richmond, BC V6V 1M8 Attention: Dave Marquis, RPF, Planning & Environment Forester Reference : Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping within the Soo TSA: Sloquet-High Landscape Unit Dear Dave, Please find enclosed the final project deliverables for the Sloquet-High LU TEM project: Non-Spatial Attribute Databases 1. TEM project database: tem_4680*_mta.csv 2. TEM polygon database: tem_4680_ecp.csv 3. Venus 5.0 (ground inspection) database: tem_4680_eci.mdb 4. Excel (visual inspection) database: tem_4680_eci.xls Reports and Legends 5. Map legend: tem_4680_ml.pdf 6. Expanded (vegetation) legend: tem_4680_el.pdf 7. Final Report: tem_4680_rpt.pdf ARC/INFO Spatial Databases 8. TEM polygon information: tem_4680_ecp.e00 9. TEM field plot data: tem_4680_eci.e00 Other Deliverables (available upon request) • Typed air photos (with numbered ecosystem polygons and labeled BGC lines) • Original field forms * Business Area Project ID (BAPID, supplied from the Ministry of Environment) Suite 401, 958 West 8 th Ave., Vancouver, BC V5Z 1E5 Tel (604) 733-0731 Fax (604) 733-0634 www.timberline.ca Please contact me if you have any further questions or comments on the submitted deliverables. We look forward to an opportunity to work with you again in the future. Yours truly, Scott Hawker, B.Sc., R.P.Bio. Project Manager Timberline Natural Resource Group Ltd. SLOQUET-HIGH LANDSCAPE UNIT: TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM MAPPING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Terrestrial ecosystem mapping of the Sloquet-High Landscape Unit could not have been successfully completed without the efforts of many people. This project was funded through the Forest Investment Account (FIA) and was coordinated by the participating Soo TSA Licensee Group members. Ian Robertson, R.P.F., Forsite Forest Management Specialists, was the FIA Coordinator and Dave Marquis, R.P.F., Terminal Forest Products Ltd., was the technical representative on behalf of the Soo Licensee Group for this project. Ecological data collection was completed by the following Timberline staff: Scott Hawker, R.P.Bio. (project manager), Randy Moody , R.P.Bio. and Kara Aleksich, R.P.F. The skilled staff of Omega Aviation (Squamish, BC) provided safe and efficient helicopter transportation throughout the landscape unit. Digital photo control was completed by Andrew Neale of Andrew Neale Digital Mapping (Victoria, BC). Data capture (via monorestitution) was completed by Eros Pavan, R.P.F., of Timberline. Nick Zukanovic and Eros Pavan of Timberline provided GIS expertise throughout the project. Helen Reid, R.P.Bio., provided an independent third party quality assurance check of the final classification, with emphasis on the quality and consistency of mapping and on the correct use of site modifiers. i SLOQUET-HIGH LANDSCAPE UNIT: TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM MAPPING EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In order to catalogue the ecological resources of the Sloquet-High LU, the Soo Timber Supply Area Licensee Group commissioned a terrestrial ecosystem mapping (TEM) project within this landscape unit. The purpose of the project was to complete a TEM of the landscape unit for use in future timber supply reviews and other resource management activities. A total of 876 terrestrial ecosystem polygons were mapped within this landscape unit. Mapping was completed according to the Standards for Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping in British Columbia (RIC 1998), although the project followed a non-standard approach, as outlined in this document. As per standard TEM projects, the ecosystem mapping was based on the three level ecosystem classification framework, which includes ecoregion units, biogeoclimatic units and ecosystem units. According to licensee requests, and discussions between the mapping contractor, licensee and Ministry of Environment staff in a previous fiscal year, several modifications were made to the 1998 TEM standards. The following variances from a standard TEM project applied to this project: • Terrain attributes were not mapped, • Structural stage attributes were not mapped, • The sampling intensity targets applied largely to the productive forest land base (i.e. parkland ecosystems were not as intensively field sampled; they were largely photo interpreted), • FS882 field forms were not completed in the field, • The Coastal Mountain-heather Alpine (CMA) zone was neither mapped nor classified, and • The expanded legend did not provide a detailed listing of vegetation species by structural stage . The following four biogeoclimatic units were mapped in the project area: • CWHds1 – Southern dry submaritime Coastal Western Hemlock variant • CWHms1 – Southern moist submaritime Coastal Western Hemlock variant • MHmm2 – Leeward moist maritime Mountain Hemlock variant • MHmmp2 – Leeward moist maritime Mountain Hemlock Parkland variant ii SLOQUET-HIGH LANDSCAPE UNIT: TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM MAPPING TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................................................I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................. II 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Background ......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Objectives ........................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Study Area ....................................................................................................... 2 1.3.1 Location............................................................................................... 2 1.3.2 Climate................................................................................................. 6 1.3.3 Hydrology............................................................................................ 6 1.3.4 Topography and Soils.......................................................................... 6 1.3.5 Parks .................................................................................................... 7 2 METHODOLOGY: ECOSYSTEM MAPPING .................................................. 8 2.1 Polygon delineation: Non-standard approach.................................................. 9 2.2 Field Planning.................................................................................................. 9 2.3 Field Sampling................................................................................................. 9 2.4 Data Entry and Analysis................................................................................ 11 2.5 Ecosystem Mapping....................................................................................... 11 2.6 Expanded Vegetation Legend........................................................................ 12 3 RESULTS: MAPPED BGC UNITS AND ECOSYSTEMS .............................. 13 3.1 Biogeoclimatic Units ..................................................................................... 13 3.1.1 CWHds1 ............................................................................................ 13 3.1.2 CWHms1 ........................................................................................... 14 3.1.3 MHmm2............................................................................................. 15 3.1.4 MHmmp2........................................................................................... 15 3.1.5 Non-vegetated units........................................................................... 16 4 QUALITY CONTROL......................................................................................... 17 4.1 Internal Quality Control................................................................................. 17 4.2 External Quality Control................................................................................ 17 5 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 18 iii SLOQUET-HIGH LANDSCAPE UNIT: TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM MAPPING LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Field Guide descriptions of the biogeoclimatic units within the Sloquet-High LU. .............................................................................................................................. 5 Table 2. Summary of mapped polygons by BGC unit...................................................... 13 Table 3. Vegetated site series mapped within CWHds1................................................... 14 Table 4. Vegetated site series mapped within CWHms1.................................................. 14 Table 5. Vegetated site series mapped within MHmm2................................................... 15 Table 6. Vegetated ecosystem units mapped within MHmmp2 ....................................... 16 Table 7. Non-vegetated units mapped within Sloquet-High LU ...................................... 16 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Soo Timber Supply Area..................................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Sloquet-High LU boundary overview ................................................................