Beautiful path in a forest during a vibrant summer day. Taken in Raft Cove Provincial Park, Northern Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

12. Sechelt Landscape Unit BEC Subzones

Below is a closer view of the Sechelt LU. Again, the problem is obvious that so much human development has occurred in the CWHxm.

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Additionally, the Sechelt LU has a component of Coastal Douglas Fir (CDF) Zone in which old growth stands are rare. CDFmm is the rarest BEC zone in all of BC (0.3%). In the Sechelt LU, the CDFmm zone is located in Halfmoon Bay, including Thormanby Island and Merry Island. A notable area in this Zone is Smuggler Cove Marine Provincial Park, seeing both Douglas Fir and Arbutus in this rocky bluff site, exclusive to the CDF zone.

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Any opportunities to protect land in the CDFmm or CWHxm subzones should be pursued vigorously. Luckily, in the Sechelt LU there are three provincial parks, including Smugglers Cove, Simson Provincial Park, and Sargeant Bay Provincial Park.

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Glossary of Terms

Biomass: refers to the total amount of organic matter (i.e., anything that comes from plants and animals). 

Biogeoclimatic (BEC) Zone: the classification system used to identify an area based on the dominant type of vegetation, climate, and soil characteristics at its climax 

Climax Old-Growth: the final stage of a forest stand when left undisturbed by humans 

Biogeoclimatic Zone Abbreviations

  • AT: Alpine Tundra
  • BG: Bunchgrass
  • BWBS: Boreal White and Black Spruce
  • CDF: Coastal Douglas-Fir
  • CWH: Coastal Western Hemlock
  • ESSF: Engelmann Spruce - Subalpine Fir
  • ICH: Interior Cedar - Hemlock
  • IDF: Interior Douglas-Fir
  • MH: Mountain Hemlock
  • MS: Montane Spruce
  • PP: Ponderosa Pine
  • SBPS: Sub-Boreal Pine - Spruce
  • SBS: Sub-Boreal Spruce
  • SWB: Spruce - Willow - Birch

Landscape Units of the SCNRD

  • Bishop
  • Brem
  • Brittain
  • Bunster
  • Bute East
  • Bute West
  • Chapman
  • Cortes
  • Haslam
  • Homathko
  • Homfray
  • Howe
  • Jervis
  • Lois
  • Narrows
  • Quatam

Biogeoclimatic Subzone Codes

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