Biodiversity

Change in Area of Sensitive Ecosystems on Eastern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

Ecosystem	Description	1992 area (ha)	2002 area (ha)	Loss (ha)	% loss
Sensitive ecosystems
Coastal bluff	Vegetated rocky islets, shorelines, and coastal cliffs	1042.9	1041.7	1.2	0.1
Terrestrial herbaceous	Mosaics of coastal grassland meadows and moss-covered rock outcrops	4242.9	4218.5	24.4	0.6
Older forest	Forests older than 100 years	10,613.8	9698.4	915.4	8.6
Riparian	Vegetated floodplains, stream and lakeshores, and gullies	6712.3	6401.5	310.8	4.6
Sparsely vegetated	Dunes, spits, and inland cliffs	325.6	321.1	4.5	1.4
Woodland	Open forests dominated by deciduous trees with canopy cover generally less than 50%	2518.7	2452.6	66.1	2.6
Wetland	Marshes, fens, bogs, swamps, shallow water, and wet meadows	7053.9	6912.1	141.8	2.0
Total		32,510.1	31,045.9	1464.2	4.5
Modified ecosystems of importance to wildlife
Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Field	Agricultural fields flooded in winter for use by migratory birds	2778.6	2763.3	15.3	0.5
Older Second Growth Forest	Large stands of conifers 60–100 years old	44,890.6	37,527.5	7363.1	16.4
Total		47,669.2	40,293.9	7378.4	15.5
Total sensitive and modified ecosystems		80,179.3	71,342.6	8836.7	11.0

Eastern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands lost nearly 1500 hectares (ha) of sensitive ecosystems between 1992 and 2002.

[View Map of Study Area]

B.C.’s Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory project identifies and maps rare or fragile ecosystems. Studies on the east coast of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands show that between 1992 and 2002:

• 1464 hectares of sensitive ecosystems were lost, a total reduction of 4.5%.

• The greatest loss was of older forests, which were reduced by 8.6%. Riparian ecosystems (streamside vegetation) were reduced by 4.6%.

• 7363 hectares of older second-growth forest were disturbed or lost, a 16% decrease in area.

• Most losses over the 10-year period were due to logging and clearing, which removed 1176 hectares of sensitive ecosystems and also 6833 hectares of older second-growth forest (not shown).

For detailed information, including graph data, see In-Depth report [pdf].

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