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inFocus
The
web of life has spun the Pink
Salmon into the centre of the
Green River's ecosystem. Watch
our four video segments illustrating
the interdependent relationships
of the Green River.
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The Great Bear
Rainforest: A Global Treasure
Teeming with life, coated in moss and crowned
with the treetops of enormous, old-growth
spruce trees, the Great Bear Rainforest
is the largest intact temperate rainforest
in North America. With its rugged, ragged
coastline of islands, inlets, coves and
fiords, and its rich inland terrain of estuaries,
lagoons, rivers, streams and upland forests,
it is a land of stunning beauty and astonishing
biodiversity.
Coastal Characteristics:
British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest
covers an area of approximately 5 million
hectares. It is bounded on the south by
Knight Inlet, on the north by the Skeena
River watershed, and on the east by the
Dean and Bella Coola Rivers (at Tweedsmuir
Provincial Park). Classified as a coastal
temperate rainforest, the Great Bear is
characterized by:
• Proximity to oceans and mountains
• Mild temperatures
• Substantial year-round rainfall
• Limited snowfall
• A high level of standing biomass
and plant and wildlife diversity.
The Great Bear Rainforest occurs in the
"pre-humid" zone of coastal rainforests,
dominated by western hemlock, cedar, spruce
and balsam fir. Enormous accumulations of
dead trees contribute to massive stores
of carbon in the rainforest's terrestrial
ecosystem.
With 80 rivers and many more creeks and
streams, hundreds of genetically distinct
salmon populations exist within the Great
Bear Rainforest.
Rarest of the Rare: Coastal temperate
rainforests originally covered less than
1/5 of 1% of the earth's land surface. Almost
60% of that original coverage has been destroyed
as a result of logging and other development.
The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the
few contiguous tracts of temperate rainforest
left in the world.
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The
Green: A Three-Part Waterway
The Green River waterway is
one the most productive and
fragile ecosystems in the Great
Bear Rainforest. It consists
of a rich estuary, a large tidal
lagoon, and a freshwater river.
Baffle Point, a peninsula located
just over 7 kilometres east
of the mouth of Green Inlet,
separates the brackish waters
of the lagoon from the inlet
by means of a reversing waterfall.
Less salty lagoon water drains
into the inlet at low tide,
and out at high tide. The lagoon
supports a wide variety of fresh
and saltwater plants, many species
of waterfowl and shore birds,
and grizzly and black bears.
The Green River provides spawning
grounds for five species of
salmon, as well as steelhead
trout. |
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Wildflowers of
the Forest Floor
At the base of the towering cedar, hemlock
and Sitka spruce of the Great Bear Rainforest,
a rich community of wildflowers draws moisture
and nutrients from decaying organic matter
and decomposing leaf litter. Frequently
found in the forest understory are:
Coralroot
- with pinkish, orchid-like flowers on a
single spike
Foamflower
- a striking single stem crowned by delicate,
airy white flowers
Bunchberry
- with a single, showy white blossom nestled
in the middle of broad, low-growing green
leaves.
Sitka Spruce
Reach for the Sky
If you get a chance to hug a Sitka spruce,
look up—way up—and stretch your
arms very, very wide. The Sitka spruce is
the biggest conifer in North America. In
the moist, well-drained soils of the Pacific
coast, this towering tree can grow to an
average of 70 metres tall and 2 metres wide
(the largest known Sitka spruce stretches
93 metres into the sky and measures 5 metres
across). Among the Sitka's other remarkable
features:
• It is the fastest-growing spruce
species
• It has the greatest north-south spread
of any spruce, growing along a 3,200 kilometre
arc from Alaska to California
• It has high timber yields due to
the rapid growth of its canopy
• It has an estimated life span of
700-800 years
Medicine and Magic:
Long before forestry companies began to
log the Sitka spruce for its light, but
relatively strong and flexible softwood,
aboriginal people used its pitch to dress
wounds and to waterproof boats. They also
used its roots to produce ropes, twine and
fishing lines. Its inner bark and young
shoots were sources of vitamin C. For many
First Nations tribes, the majestic and versatile
Sitka held magical powers.
Top Value Timber:
Commercially, the Sitka is harvested for
use in boxes, crates, pallets, mill products,
general construction, ship building and
paper pulp. Its acoustic properties have
made it a wood of choice for musical instruments,
and its high quality was sought after by
early airplane manufacturers.
| Bears,
Trees and Salmon: An Ancient
Trilogy
Bears need food…trees need
nitrogen…salmon need clean,
cool running water. In a profoundly
interdependent biological relationship,
the grizzlies, salmon and cedar
of the Great Bear Rainforest
participate in a natural cycle
that maintains ecological equilibrium.
During spawning season, bears
gorge on salmon in preparation
for winter hibernation. They
carry the salmon into the inland
and upland forests, where they
decompose, fertilizing the trees
with a vital supply of nitrogen.
In turn, the well-nourished
trees grow thick and tall, shielding
the salmon's river habitat from
erosion, siltation and flash
floods. |
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The Fragile Marbled
Murrelet
For the marbled murrelet, a small, plump,
north Pacific seabird, survival depends
on old-growth forests. Like a long-distance
commuter, this web-footed member of the
auk family nests far inland, as many as
60 kilometres from its ocean feeding grounds.
Murrelet nests are found—not built—
on thick, mossy limbs or in depressions
that only the very oldest trees can provide.
No additional nesting material is added.
The murrelet is a fragile species, even
in the best of circumstances. A number of
natural factors contribute to its high mortality:
• Reproduction
does not take place until 2 or 3 years of
age.
• Only
one egg is laid in each forest nest.
• Many
fledglings die during their long first flight
to the sea.
Logging, oil spills and accidental trapping
in salmon gill nets have all taken a toll
on the fragile murrelet population. As a
result, the marbled murrelet has been assigned
"threatened" status by the Committee
on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in
Canada (COSEWIC).
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Green
River Giants
Bathed in moisture and mist
on the coast of the Pacific
Ocean, the Sitka spruce thrives
along rivers and streams, from
sea level to an elevation of
700 metres. In the Green River
Valley, a rare stand of 600-1,000
year-old growth Floodplain Sitka
Spruce mingles with the grasses
of estuarine sloughs, providing
critical nesting grounds for
the marbled murrelet.
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A Guide to Grizzlies
•The
Great Bear Rainforest is North America's
most southerly grizzly bear range. The bears
are almost extinct south of the 49th parallel,
and are on Canada's endangered list. Clearcut
logging and trophy hunting are the main
threats to British Columbia grizzlies.
• Grizzlies
are known as "nature's rototillers."
The muscular hump on the grizzly's back,
and its long, slightly curved claws, help
it to dig deeply and powerfully for high
protein roots.
• Grizzlies
can gallop at speeds up to 60 kilometres
per hour, and can travel long distances
without having to rest.
• Grizzlies
have the lowest reproduction rate of any
land mammal in North America. Breeding is
delayed until 5-8 years of age, and only
1-3 cubs are produced at 2-3 year intervals.
• Female
grizzlies can conceive offspring, but delay
implantation and fetal growth until they
have accumulated adequate stores of fat
in their bodies.
• Grizzly
bears weigh less than 1 kilogram at birth.
Adults can weigh a whopping 526 kilograms.
• Grizzlies
are omnivores, consuming plants such as
Hedysarum (bear root), bearberries and horsetail,
and animals such as ground squirrels and
salmon. In late summer, one bear may eat
as many as 200,000 berries a day.
• Grizzlies
are nocturnal and solitary, but will congregate
on salmon streams and rivers during spawning
season. Occasionally, they will feed in
the company of other bear species.
• Grizzlies
spend half of their lifetime in winter dens.
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