Taking Nature's Pulse - Biodiversity BC

T CExecutive SummaryAcknowledgementsAbout This ReportxiiixxiixxviiIntroduction 1Section 1. A Primer on Biodiversity: Its Importance and History in British Columbia 51.1 What Is Biodiversity? 51.1.1 Genetic, Species and Ecosystem Diversity 61.1.2 Composition, Structure and Function 71.2 Why Is Biodiversity Important? 101.3 Importance of Biodiversity for First Peoples of British Columbia 111.3.1 Traditional Uses of Biodiversity 111.3.2 Impacts of Biodiversity Degradation on First Peoples 151.4 Biodiversity and Geological History 151.4.1 The Pleistocene (Ice Age) Epoch 161.4.2 Before the Last Glacial Maximum: 50,000 to 17,000 Years Ago 161.4.3 The Glacial Maximum: 17,000 to 14,000 Years Ago 171.4.4 End of the Ice Age: 14,000 to 10,000 Years Ago 181.4.5 Warm Dry Early Holocene Epoch: 10,000 to 7,000 Years Ago 191.4.6 Warm Moist Middle Holocene Epoch: 7,000 to 4,000 Years Ago 211.4.7 Moderate and Moist Late Holocene Epoch: 4,000 to 200 Years Ago 21III