Does forest age affect wildlife habitat use in coastal temperate rainforests?

Forestry directly modifies wildlife habitat, but how can informed, science-based management decisions be made without an adequate understanding of how different species will be affected? In the Central Coast of British Columbia, decades of industrial forestry have converted many stands of old-growth forest to second growth, creating networks of roads and cut blocks of varied ages. Despite such widespread habitat modification, the impacts of forestry to wildlife of ecological and cultural importance on the Central Coast of British Columbia, and throughout Canada’s temperate rainforests, are not yet well known. One priority of land managers is to identify how habitat quality might differ for wildlife species important to them across forests of different age categories, ranging from newly harvested to millennial-old stands. Using data from wildlife cameras, we will determine how forest age structures might affect how wildlife has responded to habitat change, adding new evidence to support science-based resource management.

Faculty Supervisor:

Chris Darimont

Student:

Partner:

Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Victoria

Program: