What's new // Investigate and inform
Indepth essays and expert analyses from our researchers.
Beluga whales produce a multitude of sounds for a variety of functions. To date, calls used for group cohesion and for mother-calf contact, known as ‘contact calls’, are the best understood 4,6,8,11,13,14. The fact that contact calls sound nothing like the typical chirps and whistles that are common in the beluga vocal repertoire, but instead…
Spirits of the Coast brings together the work of marine biologists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, poets, artists and storytellers, united by their enchantment with the orca.
This installment is the second in a series of several articles seeking to explore the ways ecosystems differ between the islands within the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) biogeoclimatic zone. Rob Brockley, President of the Gabriola Land and Trails Trust, explains the ways topography, soil conditions, and increasing development pressure have influenced and continue to shape the…
The project takes a watershed-wide scope to improve understanding of both existing and historical ecological conditions. The first question we aim to answer is: how has modification via forestry, fire, wetland drainage, etc. influenced hydrological dynamics, availability and quality of freshwater (i.e. source drinking water), and local forest ecology? We seek to find answers to…
This article synthesises the information shared by the eighteen experts who contributed to Project TEACH.
In this article, Elke Wind describes the amphibian species common to the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone; identifies their preferred habitat types; and makes recommendations for strengthening amphibian protection.
Ann Nightingale, from the Rocky Point Bird Observatory in Victoria, BC, introduces bird species common to the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone and shares recommendations for how people can better protect them.
The Kootenay Wolves – Five years Following a Wild Wolf Pack is a spectacularly illustrated photography book by John E. Marriott, full of behavioural observations and wolf tales that will engage those interested in the state of wild wolves in North America.
This installment is the first of several articles seeking to explore the ways ecosystems differ between the islands within the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) biogeoclimatic zone. Adam Huggins, Restoration Coordinator with the Galiano Conservancy Association (GCA), explains the ways topography, historic land use, and shifting economies have influenced and continue to shape the ways CDF forests…
Eleven and half thousand years ago is a mighty long time for a major forest ecosystem. Yet, that is how long Coastal Douglas-fir forests have existed on Canada’s west coast, longer than most other forested biogeoclimatic zones in British Columbia!
After thousands of years of evolution alongside Coast Salish peoples, the story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests and associated habitats is inseparable from the story of those who shaped them.
The third and last contribution of Parks Canada to The Story of the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) forests series, three scientists working in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve share their knowledge of the legacy of fire in the region and explore the logistics and challenges of present day fire management.