Environmental Trends 2007

Ecosystems

Trends in Number of Road Crossings of Streams

The southern interior ecoprovince has the highest density of stream crossings in B.C.

Source: National Forest Inventory Photo Database.

Ecoprovince Key: SAL—Southern Alaska Mountains; NBM—Northern Boreal Mountains; TAP—Taiga Plains; COM—Coast and Mountains; SBI—Sub-boreal Interior; CEI—Central Interior; SIM—Southern Interior Mountains; BOP—Boreal Plains; GED— Georgia Depression; SOI—Southern Interior

• Photo credit: Ministry of Transportation

  The ecoprovinces with the most stream crossings per square kilometre (over one crossing per square kilometre in 2005) also had the greatest proportion of the provincial population. Densities in most other ecoprovinces were 0.5 to 0.75 crossings per square kilometre.

• Between 2000 and 2005,the Boreal Plains ecoprovince had the greatest increase in stream crossings, likely from road building for the oil and gas sector. The next highest increases were in the Southern Interior and Central Interior ecoprovinces, probably a result of growing urban development and increased logging from mountain pine beetle damage.

• The Georgia Depression and Northern Boreal Mountains had the lowest rates of increase.

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

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