Western red cedars in South Langley, BC are dying, with browning starting at the tops during summer and progressing downward until the trees are completely dead.
“We spent the weekend outdoors camping on the peninsula and notices shoreline grasses has dried and shriveled.”
West Coast fish and forests are in greater peril than ever as the B.C. government issues widespread drought warnings after a record-breaking heat wave and an explosion of wildfires across the province.
In early April I observed what appears to be widespread disease of Arbutus trees (Arbutus menziesii) on the island. Leaf blight is a known factor affecting Arbutus trees; but I wonder if other factors such as climate change may also be contributing to what is perceived as a general decline of the species.
Researchers on Vancouver Island are studying fish they recently discovered that share genes of both coho and chinook salmon. The hybrid fish, are likely the result of drought in the Cowichan watershed, which has impacted when and where coho and chinook spawn.
Drought levels have been raised already for parts of the province and Dave Campbell, with the B.C. River Forecast Centre, says the current forecast points to drought conditions provincewide in the coming weeks.
A growing die off of native Western Red Cedar trees is becoming visible right across East Vancouver Island now. Experts say its a symptom of climate change and as Skye Ryan reports, its changing the forests we've come to know across this region.
One of B.C.'s most abundant plants is in trouble: patches of hardy salal plants are turning up brown, crispy and dying.
Salal bushes observed to be very dry and dying in British Columbia.
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