The Lulu Island Bog  airphoto 1           airphoto  2              airphoto 3

A brief reconnaissance of the Col. Sherman tank range boglands (DND property), and comparison with the Richmond Nature Park ( 2001)

prepared by Rose Klinkenberg, Wilf Schofield and Terry Taylor
 

Background

The Lulu Island bog is a raised bog ecosystem that is located on Lulu Island in the municipality of Richmond.  Prior to urban development, clearing, and expansion of agriculture, it covered an area in central Richmond that stretched from the northern perimeter of Lulu Island (north of the present day nature park), to the south arm of the Fraser River, directly across from Burns Bog.  Today it is represented by four small parcels of land in central Richmond: the two parcels that comprise the Richmond Nature Park and Richmond Nature Study Area, the parcel that is presently the Department of National Defense property (tank range), and the Richmond radio towers property.  These are located between Garden City Rd. to the west, Jacombs Rd. to the east, Westminster Highway to the south and Highway 91 to the north (see airphoto 3).  While the radio towers property is part of the bog, it has been routinely cleared of trees and shrubs, and only a low open peat mat is present.   Although severely impacted, this site is still part of the Lulu Island Bog.  In addition, while the Richmond Nature Park properties are protected from development, they have been seriously impacted by several factors:
. a much reduced areal extent that has led to species loss,
. dumping of silt from highway and tunnel construction,
. the construction of major drainage ditches that have resulted in the drying of the bog,
. fire suppression and the resulting invasion by shrub and tree species, in particular alien species such as hybrid birch and cultivated blueberry.  As a result of these impacts, the bog is experiencing anthropogenic successional transition.

Raised bogs that are altered by drainage changes are essentially declining or dying bogs.  The continuous upward growth of the Sphagnum mat is compromised as draw down occurs and the water table declines. In the Richmond Nature Park, drying is most evident around the perimeter, nearest the drainage ditches, but is also evident towards the centre of the bog where shore pines are abundant and tall, and western hemlock is noticeably invading.  In the Nature Study Area (the east block of land), the site has already succeeded into a drier bog forest.  While this successional change in the bog is still of interest and provides good outdoor opportunities for environmental education, there is the real possibility that in future bog representation in the park will disappear.  Of great concern is the present effect of thick tall growth of cultivated blueberry that has led to a complete depauperation of bog flora beneath them, and to a dying off of live Sphagnum layer.

In examining the current situation in the Richmond Nature Park, the nature park society ecology committee noted that the adjacent boglands in the Department of National Defense (DND) property were reported to be in good condition, with much less tree and shrub invasion.  It was felt that an investigation of the DND property was warranted in order to determined how this was achieved.  Permission was obtained from the DND to investigate their site, and make some comparison between the bog ecosystem representation in the DND site and the nature park site.

Methods

Air photos were obtained for the area and examined.  Interviews were conducted with several local residents and blueberry pickers.  Finally, field trips to the DND properties were conducted by the ecology committee in order to document differences between the flora of both sites. Wilf Schofield and Terry Taylor compiled a preliminary species list for the site, of both vascular plants, and non-vascular plants (bryophytes).   The DND property was traversed over several days to assess the complexity of bog plant communities present, and to attempt to determine site history and events that would have played a role in the clearly good condition of this portion of the Lulu Island Bog.

Results

The results of this qualitative reconnaissance survey, of the examination of the air photos for the site, and of the interviews with local residents, showed that the DND block of land that comprises one-third of the Lulu Island Bog supports raised bog habitat that is generally in much better condition than the adjacent, drier, nature park lands.  Several factors appear to have played a role in maintaining the bog habitat in this site:

.  past clearing of the property--removal of the shrub and tree growth circa 1970 when the property was first taken over by the Department of National Defense;
. a higher water table on the site that has not been as seriously affected by drainage and is augmented by the presence of a small stream; and
. continuous sporadic fires in the site (accidental fire in the late summer probably caused by the blueberry pickers who visit this site in great numbers).  Evidence of fire and fire response is abundant on the site, where recent and old fire damage is evident, allowing some insight into the speed and composition of plant succession.

Vegetation communities in this site are in much better condition and are more varied, with less continuous invasion and dominance by birch hybrids and cultivated blueberries.  In particular, there are extensive areas where tree and shrub invasion is minimal.  In addition to good quality representation of heath bog, this site supports regionally rare fen communties that are in good condition.  Fen communities are not known anywhere else in Richmond.  An added component to the biodiversity of this site are the recently burned areas (within the last three years) that provide insight into the fire response of our regional raised bogs.  Succession on these sites is readily apparent, with species responses easily observed.

The abundance of otherwise relatively scarce or uncommon bog species in this site is also notable and significant. Cloudberry, bog blueberry, velvet-leaf blueberry and sundews are particularly abundant, with extensive mats of sundews in many spots offering testimony to the positive effects of fire and higher water levels.  In addition, these same conditions have resulted in less aggressive growth of trees and shrubs, maintaining this bog structurally in a more natural state.  Tree height is generally low, and blueberry abundance is notably less than the adjacent properties.  The site is noticeably wetter, even in mid-August, than adjacent boglands.  These conditions are not replicated in the nature park lands, though there is overlap of plant communities. A brief site visit in December showed that higher water levels are a key feature here, with several small ponds present in the fen areas, and a flowing stream.

The condition of the DND portion of the Lulu Island Bog is excellent, and the representation it offers of  raised bog habitat more than complements that found in the Richmond Nature Park. While some factors, such as fire and clearing of woody growth, can be replicated in the nature park, some features on this portion of the bog cannot be replicated, in particular the much wetter conditions of the site.

Overall, the DND bog provides a better representation of raised bog habitat in Richmond because of the better condition of the bog communities, the greater diversity of of bog/wetland habitat, and the greater abundance of significant bog species on the site. Any restoration attempts in the nature park bog to bring these conditions back are hindered by the excessive drainage caused
by the large perimeter ditches, and by the lack of fire on the site.  The nature park bog lacks the natural wetter conditions that are present in the DND bog, which will contribute over the long-term to the survival of bog species and habitat in the municipality.

The committee recommends that further study of the DND boglands and comparison with the Nature Park properties be undertaken.  It would be interesting to document the differences in ecosystem health, site biodiversity and plant succession between the three blocks of land.

Note that access to this site is restricted.

Species lists for vascular and non-vascular plants follow:
 
 

TREES
 

Betula papyrifera  Betula pendula Pinus contorta var. contorta  Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa  Rhamnus purshiana  Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra  Sorbus aucuparia  Tsuga heterophylla

paper birch European birch, plus hybrid birch shore pine black cottonwood cascara Pacific willow European mountain ash western hemlock

SHRUBS:
 

Andromeda polifolia Calluna vulgaris Cytisus scoparius  Gaultheria shallon  Kalmia occidentalis Ledum groenlandicum  Rosa sp. Rubus chamaemorus  Rubus discolor  Rubus laciniatus  Rubus parviflorus  Rubus ursinus Salix hookeriana  Salix scouleriana  Sambucus racemosa  Spiraea douglasii var. douglasii  Vaccinium corymbosum  Vaccinium macrocarpon  Vaccinium myrtilloides  Vaccinium oxycoccus  Vaccinium uliginosum

bog rosemary heather Scot's broom salal swamp laurel Labrador tea rose cloudberry Himalayan blackberry evergreen blackberry thimbleberry trailing barberry Hooker's willow Scoulter's willow red elderberry hardhack highbush blueberry (domestic blueberry) cranberry (domestic cranberry) velvet-leaf blueberry wild cranberry bog blueberry

HERBACEOUS PLANTS:
 

Cirsium arvense  Cirsium vulgare Drosera rotundifolia  Epilobium angustifolium  Gnaphalium uliginosum  Hieracium sp. Lactuca muralis  Leontodon autumnalis Lythrum salicaria  Matricaria discoidea Medicago lupulina Nuphar polysepalum  Plantago lanceolata  Plantago major Polygonum aviculare  Rumex acetosella Sonchus asper  Taraxacum officinale  Trifolium hybridum  Trifolium pratense  Trifolium repens  Typha latifolia

Canada thistle bull thistle round-leaved sundew fireweed marsh cudweed hawkweed wall lettuce autumn hawkbit purple loosestrife pineapple weed black medic yellow pond lily ribwort plantain common plantain doorweed sheep sorrel prickly sow-thistle dandelion alsike cloverb red clover white clover wide-leaved cattail

GRASSES AND ALLIES:
 

Agrostis scabra  Agrostis sp.  Anthoxanthum odoratum  Carex obnupta  Dulichium arundinaceum  Eriophorum chamissonis  Holcus lanatus  Juncus effusus  Lolium perenne  Phalaris arundinacea  Rhynchospora alba  Scirpus cyperinus

hairy bentgrass bentgrass sweet vernal grass basket sedge three-way sedge Chamisso's cottongrass velvet grass common rush perennial ryegrass reed canary grass white beak rush wool grass

FERNS AND ALLIES:
 

Equisetum arvense  Lycopodium clavatum Pteridium aquilinum

field horsetail  running clubmoss bracken fern

Non-Vascular Plants of the DND portion
of the Lulu Island Bog
compiled by Terry Taylor and Wilf Schofield
August, 2001

(* = vouchers at UBC herbarium)
 

Aulocomnium androgynum Aulocomnium palustre* Calliergon stramineum Campylopus fragilis* Cephalozia bicuspidata* Ceratodon purpureus* Dicranella cericulata* Dicranum scoparium* Drepanocladus exannulatus Eurynchium oreganum Hylocomium splendens* Mylia anomala*

Pleurozium schreberi* Pohlia nutans Polytrichum strictum Rhytidialdelphus triquetrus* Sphagnum capillifolium* Sphagnum fuscum* Shagnum mendocinum* Sphagnum pacificum* Sphagnum palustre* Sphagnum papillosum (uncommon) Sphagnum tenellum*

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