Northeast Bog Forest
This remnant forest, owned by the city of Richmond, is located in north Richmond on the north arm of the Fraser River. Surrounded by cranberry fields, it is a tiny remnant of a once much larger bog--the Lesser Lulu Island Bog, and provides an island of habitat for a variety of bird and plant species. An excellent ecological inventory of this site was conducted by Grenier and Bijsterveld in 1982. In this inventory, ten vegetation communities were identified, including open bog, pine forest, mixed bog forest, deciduous bog, deciduous forest and Spiraea brushland. These communities support bog species, including shore pine (Pinus contorta), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus), Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), bog laurel (Kalmia microphylla), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), starflower (Trientalis borealis), sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) and white bog orchid (Platanthera dilatata). A complete species list and vegetation map for this site may be found in Grenier and Bijstervel (1982). Mammal species reported during this study include mule deer, beaver, coyote, raccoon, muskrat and the shrew mole. Herptile species reported were the green frog, American bullfrog and the Puget Sound Garter Snake. The assessment by Grenier and Bijstervel indicate that the Northeast Bog is more similar in composition and lack of disturbance to Burns Bog than it is to the Richmond Nature Park Bog, where the latter is overrun by domestic blueberry. A general history of peat fires on Lulu Island, and in this site in particular, has played a role in the development of the bog vegetation.
View of Lulu Island, looking east. The Northeast Bog forest is a tiny 'woodlot' located in the upper left of the photo. The dark green patch it sits on respesents the former extent of this bog, once called the Lesser Lulu Island Bog.
References
Grenier, Louise, and Lia Bijsterveld, 1982. Northeast Bog Study. Richmond: Corporation of the Township of Richmond.