Environmental Trends 2007

Ecosystems

Overview – What is happening?

Photo credit: Steve Cannings

An ecosystem is a complex, interlinked system of living organisms and their environment. The varied geography of British Columbia has a multitude of ecosystems, making it home to more species than any other province.

Healthy ecosystems provide essential ‘services’ that people rely on: clean water and air, food and fibre production, waste treatment, climate regulation, protection from flooding and erosion and many other functions. However, human activities have degraded, fragmented and even eliminated some ecosystems in B.C., making it more important than ever to establish protected areas, manage development activities and educate people on how to care for the remaining ecosystems.

  • Grasslands are Canada’s most endangered ecosystem. About 16 per cent of original southern interior B.C. grassland has been lost, mostly before 1990. Only about eight per cent of the remaining grasslands in the area are now protected.

  • Forests in B.C. cover 65 per cent of the area of the province (33 per cent is naturally non-forested); two per cent of the land base has been permanently converted to non-forestry uses, mainly due to the expansion of urban areas.

  • Estuaries are essential ecosystems, home to most coastal wildlife, including salmon and migratory birds. About 38 per cent of 440 mapped estuaries in B.C. have economic tenures and 28 per cent have conservation tenures.

  • The total protected area of B.C. has more than doubled since 1991. Legally designated protected areas cover 13.4 per cent of the provincial land base; another 0.6 per cent of the province has been identified for legal protection.

  • Although ecosystems within the province are not equally represented within the system of protected areas, they are better represented now than they were 1991. About a third of terrestrial ecosections have over 12 per cent of the area protected (doubled since 1991). Marine ecosections are the least represented, with most having less than five per cent of their area protected.

  • The total area of protected forest has more than doubled since 1991 and now covers 9.7 per cent of B.C. forests. The protected area of both low and high elevation forests has increased.

  • About eight per cent of the province is both protected and ecologically intact (i.e., without roads). The central and north coast and the northwest have the largest tracts of intact land, therefore, protected areas in these regions are mostly surrounded by intact landscapes.

  • Protected areas in the southern interior and south coast are surrounded by landscapes fragmented by roads; in north eastern B.C., the landscape is fragmented by seismic lines.

  • Between 1988 and 2005, the total length of roads in B.C. increased by 82 per cent. The Georgia Depression ecoprovince (which includes Vancouver) has the most roads per square kilometre.

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

Next: Status of grassland habitats in southern interior B.C. >>