In British Columbia, much of the research on plant biodiversity has focused on coastal and maritime ecosystems, especially coastal temperate rainforests.
In British Columbia, much of the research on plant biodiversity has focused on coastal and maritime ecosystems, especially coastal temperate rainforests. However, in B.C. there is a second temperate rainforest ecosystem, the inland temperate rainforest. It has received far less attention, both from the scientific community, and from the general public.
With the designation of the Ancient Forest/Chun T’oh Provincial Park in 2016, a team of researchers jumped at the chance to do a detailed study of biodiversity in the inland rainforest located 115 km east of Prince George.
Now, in their third year of field studies, after trekking deep into the backcountry, hundreds of kilometres through wetlands, knee-deep in swamps, exploring unknown valleys and bushwhacking through to the top of mountain peaks, these scientists have been astonished by what they have discovered.
“The number of species we found, the number of rare species, and the number of new species has been a real surprise,” says Dr. Darwyn Coxson, Ecosystem Science and Management Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia. “We knew there would be new finds there, but our project, getting off the roads into remote backcountry areas has resulted in many new findings, from areas that have not been visited by scientists before.”
Continue reading at University of Northern British Columbia.
Image via University of Northern British Columbia.
