Light Environment and Understory Response to Riparian Restoration of Lyell Island, Haida Gwaii

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, with Parks Canada, are undertaking a riparian restoration project on Lyell Island, Haida Gwaii. On this island, Haida First Nation protests against old growth logging in 1984 led to the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve. The project will restore salmon habitat and enhance biodiversity values on Lyell Island that have been degraded from a century of logging and understory suppression from deer browsing. Large, tall stumps left from logging provide a place for understory plant communities that are out of the reach from deer. My research will measure the response of light environments and plant communities to restoration treatments. This knowledge will serve to inform future research and may provide valuable insight to the restoration initiatives happening on Haida Gwaii and specifically in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Kenneth Lertzman

Student:

Rachel White

Partner:

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Fisheries and wildlife

University:

Simon Fraser University