Baseline inventory of key biophysical and geomorphological features along the Lulu Island foreshore and the potential effects of sea level rise on marsh vegetation communities and restoration efforts

This research focuses on creating and implementing a sampling methodology to collect information on vegetation communities and soils along the Lulu Island foreshore in Steveston, BC. This information will be used to examine how the plant communities of natural marsh areas in this area change based on certain environmental parameters (e.g. elevation, salinity, tidal inundation) and how foreshore marsh areas may be impacted by sea level rise. Researchers and organizations may replicate these methods to monitor changes in the Lulu Island marsh vegetation community over time or project managers and agencies may wish to replicate these methods at restoration and compensation sites to adaptively manage their projects. Baseline data collected may also help to inform organizations conducting restoration in this area (e.g. Raincoast) and may help to guide future restoration efforts.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kim Ives

Student:

Erin Vekic

Partner:

Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

British Columbia Institute of Technology