Taking Nature's Pulse - Biodiversity BC

I , II II VIIntroductionBritish Columbia is an exceptional place, known worldwide for its spectacular landscapes and remarkablewildlife. The province’s mountainous topography, glacial history and ocean-influenced climate havefostered a wide diversity of ecosystems and an incredible abundance of life. Of all the Canadian provincesand territories, B.C. is home to the richest diversity of vascular plants, mosses, mammals, butterflies and breedingbirds, and the largest number of species of reptiles, tiger beetles (Cicindela spp.) and amphibians found only in oneprovince or territory. 1 Some species – such as the Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis), Macoun’smeadowfoam (Limnanthes macounii) and at least eight south Okanagan insect species – live nowhere else in theworld. Others, like the mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) 2 and mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus cariboumountain ecotype), 3 have a majority of their population in B.C. Several sticklebacks (Gasterosteus spp.) that arefound only in a few small B.C. lakes are considered scientific treasures because of the genetic insights they offer. 4Examples of important biological diversity or biodiversity also abound at the ecosystem level. For instance, theprovince shares the world’s only inland temperate rainforest with Idaho, Montana and Washington, a and, alongwith Alaska, is home to most of the remaining intact coastal temperate rainforest.Human activities are altering the landscape of B.C. in ways that compromise components of theprovince’s biodiversity. An increasingly large proportion of the province is roaded (Map 1) and the human populationhas grown to over four million, with 80% concentrated in urban centres in the lower mainland, on Vancouver Islandand in the interior near Kamloops and Kelowna; by 2031, B.C.’s population is expected to reach close to six million(see Sec. 3.3.4, p. 196). Urbanization has replaced large areas of low-elevation natural ecosystems with impervioussurfaces such as concrete and pavement, and agriculture has converted biologically diverse forests, wetlandsArrowleaf balsamroot(Balsamorhiza sagittata) nearGun Creek in the southernChilcotin region.photo: moira lemon.a Depending on how the inland temperate rainforest is defined, the entire global range of this ecosystem may be contained within B.C.(see Section 2.5.2.2-A, p. 141).