Field Research Project – Site Visit #1
- Recorder: Brian Titaro
- Location: Surrey Bend Regional Park, Surrey, British Columbia
- Visit Date: 09-06-2017
- Visit Time: 14:45
- Weather: Smokey skies from forest fires, no wind, 25oC
My field research project location will be Surrey Bend Regional Park (SBRP) located in Surrey, British Columbia on the south shore of the Fraser River. Surrey Bend is managed by the Metro Vancouver Regional District and is 348 hectares in size. SBRP consists of 5km un-dyked shoreline, medium bench floodplain ecosystems, and the third largest relatively undisturbed bog in the region. Nearly 80% of the park is closed to public access and within the accessible area there are three main ecological communities in which I will perform my study.
The first is the Entrance Area (49.195301oo N, 122.728121o W) characterized by mowed grass fields, gravel parking lots, and old field habitat. The dominate vegetation includes Achillea millefolium, Lupinus spp., Secale cereal, Anaphalis margaritacea, and Grindelia stricta and ornamental Acer spp.
The second site is an open Wetland Complex (49.198919o N, 122.730074o W ) with man-made sloughs built by the Transportation Investment Corporation (TICorp) as a compensation projection for the fisheries damage that took place during the construction of the Port Mann Bridge. The wetlands are dominated by Phalaris arundinacea and Spiraea douglasii, interspersed with small Picea sitchensis, Rubus spectabilis, and Alnus rubra that were planted as a re-vegetation project.
The third site is a dense, closed canopy Riparian Forest along the Fraser River (49.199970o N, 122.727928o W). The dominate tree species are Populus trichocarpa, Picea sitchensis and Alnus rubra, with Symphoricarpos albus, Rubus spectabilis, and Acer circinatum making up the shrub layer, and Rubus ursinus covering the forest floor.
After visiting the site, the topics I’m interested in further researching would be:
- Does the bird species diversity change between the three ecosystems listed above?
- What fish species are using the recently constructed sloughs and are there features within the sloughs to which they are attracted?
- Which of the three ecosystems listed above hosts the largest diversity of non-native, invasive plant species?
Hi Brian
just a short note that I deleted some of your larger >1mb photos. Can you post screenshots or resampled photos aka <1mb? need to monitor storage. thanks!