A Walk in the Forest Forest ecology on Canada's West Coast A message from the President.

The Abbotsford campus of the University College of the Fraser Valley contains a 6 hectare rectangular forest fragment, known as the campus woodlot. The woodlot is surrounded on two sides by the university college campus and by agricultural land on the other two sides. This fragment is a part of the original forest that covered the Fraser Valley in British Columbia) before settlement by Europeans.

Since 1994, students in Biology 210 (Introductory Ecology) have been conducting an intensive vegetation survey of the campus forest with a view to producing a detailed vegetation map. Over the years students have also been researching the wildlife that live in or use the forest. This internet natural history interpretation project represents a new phase of student work that will be continued over the next few years.

This area is in the Coastal Western Hemlock biotic zone, the mildest and wettest region in British Columbia. The forest found on our campus is typical of west coast forest fragments found close to urban areas. The forested area on which the new campus was built in 1983 was selectively logged about 80 years ago. The area of the campus woodlot has been left alone since then.

Our forest is a patchwork of coniferous and deciduous tree communities. The Western Redcedar (Thuja plicata) patch growing close to the transient pond is so dense that little light reaches the barren forest floor. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzesii) communities alternate with deciduous communities that include Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera), Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophylum), and Red Alder (Alnus rubra). Isolated Western Hemlocks (Tsuga heterophylla) are scattered throughout the forest. Most of the communities have well-developed shrub and ground cover layers. Native shrubs, such as Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa) and Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), and ground cover species, such as Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa), Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus), and Sword Fern (Polysticum munitum), are present. So too are invading species, such as English Holly (Ilex aquifolium), Western Buttercup (Ranunculus occidentalis), Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus discolor), and the dreaded Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica).

When we walk through our forest on sunny days we are sure to hear the calls and songs of Stellar's Jays (Cyanositta stelleri), Winter Wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes), and Pacific-slope Flycatchers (Empidonax difficilis). If we are lucky we will see a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) and Black-capped Chickadees (Parus atricapilus). In the spring and summer we hear the calls of Pacific Tree Frogs (Hylla regilla) and can see an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) sitting confidently in her nest right beside the path through the forest.

 

	Barbara Moon,
	Head of the Biology Department

Join us for a walk in a virtual forest.

• Listen to some sounds from the forest.
  
• 1998
  • Forest fragmentation.
    
  • Shade effects in forests.
    
  • Interactions between Red Alder and Douglas-fir.
    
  • English Holly, a forest invader.
    
  • How plants defend themselves against predation.
    
  • How the Bald eagle is affected by forest fragmentation.
    
  • The ecological role of Western Redcedar in coastal forests.
    
• 1999
  • Bigleaf Maple phenology.
    
  • The Bracken Fern, a plant with "attitude" and also a split personality.
  • Think about falling leaves and decomposition in the forest.
  • When a tree falls in the forest does anybody hear? Good question, we don't have the answer, but we do have a look at what happens to the tree after it falls.
  • Learn about mutualism between Red Alder and Frankia.
  • Another look at mutualism in the relationship between the Douglas squirrel and the trees in which it lives.
  • Be aware of seasonal changes that occur in the forest.
  • Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants.
  • Exotic plants are those that are not native to the ecosystem.

Acknowledgments:
Our collective thanks to our Biology 210 web tyrant, James Salahub, who shepherded us through the learning process, patiently sorted out problems both large and small, and pulled it all together. Thanks to Dick Cannings for his recordings of forest birds.

This web page first went public on November 30, 1998. Last updated February 3, 2000.
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Website creation date is November 30, 1998

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