Author Archives: sjking

10/21/14

Welcome to the Internet Big Trees!

Registry committee member Ralf Kelman standing next to tree #320, the Wesbrook Ravine grand fir.

Registry committee member Ralf Kelman standing next to tree #320, the Wesbrook Ravine grand fir.

On September 25th, 2014, the BC Big Tree Registry was officially released to the world. Started in the 1980s by the infamous BC naturalist Randy Stoltmann (see article below), the registry contains the measurements and whereabouts of BCs most remarkable trees. Previous to the new online, publicly accessible database, the registry existed as a pile of difficult to navigate forms and pictures crammed into several banker’s boxes. Now, anyone with a computer and an internet connection can go online and nominate new trees or search out old ones. The bulk of this transformation was made possible through the hard work of Christine Chourmouzis and Bert terHart, with help from the registry committee and an Aitken lab member here and there.

The release party was held in the atrium of the Forestry building on the UBC Vancouver campus. The faculty of Forestry, and more specifically the Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics, is where the registry now calls home! A couple excited speeches preceded a sushi lunch, which was followed by a tree climbing demonstration.

Dr. Sally Aitken (left) helped bring the registry to the Faculty of Forestry. Christine Chourmouzis (right) was instrumental in the process of publicizing the registry.

Dr. Sally Aitken (left) helped bring the registry to the Faculty of Forestry. Christine Chourmouzis (right) was instrumental in the process of publicizing the registry.

The registry exists in order to identify, describe, monitor, and conserve the magnificent arboreal features of British Columbia. This is open source information for the public to access, go see the big trees for themselves, and find and nominate new trees so that others can do the same. The registry is always appreciative of new or updated information like tree health, photos, and growth. With the registry becoming completely digital, this sort of civilian maintenance should result in the most comprehensive Big Tree Registry to date.

Big tree climbing gear.

Big tree climbing gear.

Links to news articles and videos about the launch:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-bigtree-registry-wants-your-nominations-1.2800114

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/tree-huggers-rejoice-b-c-s-largest-trees-now-catalogued-in-online-database-1.2031540

http://globalnews.ca/video/1583945/bctree-registry-launched/

http://globalnews.ca/video/1616469/bc-big-tree-registry-needs-your-help/

Don’t try this at home.

Don’t try this at home.

10/17/14

Randy Stoltmann: Father of the BC Big Tree Registry

Unlike many projects of this nature, the BC Big Tree Registry didn’t begin with a committee or organization, it began with one remarkable individual. Randy Stoltman compiled his first list of big trees in 1980 at the age of 18. An adventurous kid that loved the outdoors, Randy grew up playing in the forests on the north shore of Vancouver. His first list was a record of all the big trees in Stanley Park (the 1001 acre public park that borders downtown Vancouver) which he gave to the Vancouver Parks board. From then on Randy dedicated himself to conservation and public outreach, volunteering with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee to prevent old growth logging and building trails and signage to allow for people to get out into the wild and connect with nature.

The big tree godfather himself.

The big tree godfather himself.

On of the registry monsters.

One of the registry monsters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From its humble beginnings in the hands of a nature-loving 18 year old, the formal registry was established in 1986 by the B.C. Forestry Association, which became Forest Education B.C. and most recently FORED BC. Sadly, in May 1994, Randy lost his life while ski touring in the Kitilope area. After his death, FORED BC stopped maintaining the registry and much of the original files, maps, and photographs went missing. Fortunately, shortly before he passed, Randy copied most of the registry records into a report for the B.C. Conservation Data Centre (CDC). After swapping hands a couple more times, in the fall of 2010 the BC Big Tree Registry found its home in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia.

07/29/14

Welcome to Beautiful Gavin Lake!

In early July, Tyler, Joanne, Ian, Sally, and I (the Aitken lab crew, a.k.a. the A-Team) were dispatched to the BC interior to liberate some pine and spruce tissue samples from the clutches of an army of berry-picking bear cubs.

The REAL A-Team.

The REAL A-Team.

The sneaky bear cubs defending their strawberry patch.

The sneaky bear cubs defending their strawberry patch.

Our destination was the Gavin Lake Forest Education Society camp (http://gavinlakecamp.wordpress.com/), which, among other things, serves as basecamp for many UBC research teams working in the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest (AFRF) and an annual group of 4th year Forestry students participating in the education-veiled debauchery known as “Fall Camp” (one recent cohort saunaed so hard the sauna roof caught on fire).

The cut block where the two field trials were planted.

The cut block where the two field trials were planted.

Sampling the lodgepole pine seedlings.

Sampling the lodgepole pine seedlings.

Our elite squad of tissue wrangling researchers made the 8 hour trek north to collect lodegepole pine and interior spruce tissue samples from a field site in the AFRF. The field site was established on a recently harvested cut block in spring 2013, and contains two separate field trials, one of lodgepole pine (2200 seedlings) and one of interior spruce (3100 seedlings).  These two field trials are medium-term (10 – 15 year) validation studies for our current common garden experiment at Totem field on the UBC Vancouver campus that are part of the AdapTree project. Such validation studies allow for an understanding of how translatable our results are from a seedling trial conducted outside of both of the species natural ranges, to more realistic scenarios of reforestation in the BC interior. In other words, it will tell us if coddled seedlings in raised beds, experiencing mild Vancouver weather accurately represent the seedlings out there in the wild trying to make it on their own. In OTHER other words, it will tell our graduate students if they wasted the last 5 years of their life. Just kidding, but only just.

The cut block, now 18 months after being clear cut, was home to three black bear families that passed their time munching on the sea of wild strawberries that have since recolonized the site. They were very considerate creatures, always maintain a healthy I’m-not-going-to-eat-you distance.  We also saw several deer around the site.  This little guy was particularly handsome.

Handsome Jack.

Handsome Jack.

Mama and baby eating all the strawberries.

Mama and baby eating all the strawberries.

Seeing as the designated UBC research cabin had already been commandeered by another crack squad of UBC researchers, we were upgraded to the lakeside Prime Ministorial cabin, which was very nice, as you can see here. During our free time in the evening we took advantage of our gorgeous surroundings by swimming, canoeing, and hiking around the lake. I must admit, aside from the mild inconvenience of having to wake up at 7:00 in the morning, it felt like more of a vacation than work.

Work is so HARD sometimes.

Work is so HARD sometimes.

Our humble lodgings.

Our humble lodgings. Sally shows us how to assemble a ‘Glory Bowl’.

05/13/14

Summertime Sequencing: A Cautionary Tale

It’s the beginning of another beautiful Vancouver summer and in the Aitken lab we all know what that means: the graduate students get to sit on their cushy office-chair thrones while the summer help toils away in the field.  As a member of the indentured portion of the lab I pass along to you, dear reader, a brief account of my tribulations as a summer lab student.

The Iron Fist himself

Who could ever enjoy themselves here? What a Helliwell hole.

The first instance of the cruel and unusual punishment that I’ve been subjected to this summer came on the first two days I was back.  At the command of his eminence Sir Jon “Iron First” Degner, I was banished to the dark reaches of the Gulf Islands.  Oh, woe is me.  I was to squire for Sir Jon on his crusade to conquer Garry oak genetic material in some of the most northerly and isolated populations in the species range.

We travelled to Saltspring and Hornby Island where I was made, against my will, to casually stroll through stunning Garry oak meadows, stopping only all the time to look at the abundant wild flowers and bald eagles or to eat a sandwich.  We made camp in Fillongley Provincial Park, a treacherous place full of picturesque ocean panoramas and driftwood laden beaches, where we dined on fire roasted onions and perogies.   How, you may ask yourself, was I able to endure such demoralizing and arduous conditions?  Life finds a way I suppose.

Last week I was sent outside three times to work in the UBC gulag, aka ‘Totem Field’.  “Please,” I begged Prince Ian “Soulcrusher” MacLachlan, “don’t send me outside on this beautiful summer day!”  My pleas, however, fell on deaf ears.  For hours I worked in perfectly bearable conditions, the radiant summer sun exquisitely balanced by the cool ocean breeze, only getting to pause all the time to watch the Anna’s hummingbirds perching on and darting about the Sitka spruce.

Prince Ian making sure I’m thoroughly uncomfortable and miserable.

The fearsome hummingbeast that tormented us while we worked.

The other prisoners and I sampled newly flushed interior spruce foliage like this for two days and it nearly killed every one of us.  The following day we were forced back outside to measure the heights of lodgepole pine seedlings in the same egregiously bearable weather.  I don’t know how I survived, but it may have had something to do with the sushi I had for lunch.

So beware, dear reader, of summer employment in the Aitken lab.  What they flaunt as a position of indoor, air-conditioned  lab work quickly warps to become oppressively delightful outdoor labouring with really lovely people, hummingbirds, and perhaps even the odd sandwich.