Endangered Ecosystems

A national conservation organization working on the science-based protection of all native ecosystems in Canada and on promoting ecosystem literacy.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

Check out our newest video, "The Coastal Dry Forests of British Columbia", the 3rd video in our mini-doc series "The Amazing Ecosystems in Canada":
https://t.co/O73RkTenz0
#garryoak #Arbutus #endangeredecosystems #endangeredspecies #endangeredecosystemsalliance #douglasfir

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

Over 100 BC businesses have signed our resolution calling on the government to commit to expanding the protected areas system across the province, including old-growth forests - and to commit to the key funding to make it happen! And this is just a start. https://t.co/UHZUpS5doq

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

For a limited time Cole Sprouse will be selling his 3 prints for $100 as a fundraiser for the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance & the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation to help protect old-growth and endangered ecosystems in BC. #colesprousephoto #riverdale
https://t.co/dwKF8Hoe6P

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

Cole Sprouse, best known for his role as Jughead in the hit series Riverdale, is selling prints to raise funds for the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance & the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation. We are grateful for his generosity! #colesprousephoto #Riverdale
https://t.co/vYVNbcC4Bt

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

Hear a new interview on @TheCurrentCBC with Ken Wu & Cliff Atleo Jr discussing Old-Growth Forests in BC, First Nations and Financing Alternatives: https://t.co/XAre9n9f9r

You can read a full transcript of the interview here: https://t.co/tOTsCI496c
#oldgrowth

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth Logging of old-growth forests makes more forest edges where barred owls like to live (they don't like the deep interior of old-growth, unlike spotted owls). The barred owls, from eastern Canada, will attack, harass, drive away and kill younger spotted owls in particular.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth Heheh the spotted owl is the rarest bird (and that makes people interested and concerned for them...so they are popular that way). There used to be thousands of spotted owls in the wild areas of BC - today there are 3. Also about 12 in breeding centers in BC.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth In northern Canada, the Great Gray Owl is the biggest, the size of a 2 year old kid. Huge for an owl.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth The widest in Canada are the redcedars of Vancouver Island that can be 6 meters or 21 feet wide - wider than a living room!

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth The leaves and needles are always green (as they contain chlorophyll to photosynthesize or make sugars). The bark can be brown, gray, white, red...so many colours!

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth In British Columbia's old-growth rainforest (the type of old-growth most people think about in Canada), Douglas-fir, Western Redcedar and Sitka Spruce are the biggest ones, and Bigleaf Maples are amazing too. Western Hemlock is most common and is a medium-sized tree there.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth In some areas there are trees in deserts - juniper and pinyon trees in the USA, and Baobab trees in Africa, for example. But in the driest deserts, trees can't grow as they need more water.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth Thousands of mammals, birds, insects, spiders, mites. Many are unique (found only in old-growth forests, not in second-growth). The big ones that need old-growth include the spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and mountain caribou.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth Yes with drought and global warming, the Sahel (the grassland/woodland with scattered trees, south of the Sahara Desert) is expanding south into the forested regions while itself is turning to desert in the north.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth All trees start out as tiny. But in terms of a tree that never grows very big, in the old-growth forests of BC - it might be the Pacific Yew Tree, which can grow very old, over 1000 years old, but stays small (usually about 15 meters or 50 feet) under the canopy of big trees.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth Tallest would be the coast redwoods of California, almost 400 feet (130 meters) tall (but not quite). The widest would likely be the Montezuma cypress of Mexico at 138 feet or 42 meters

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth In British Columbia, there are alligator lizards in the old-growth Douglas-fir forests. Also invasive wall lizards that should not be there

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth The very biggest tree in volume are the giant sequoia's of California, about 40 feet wide at the most (11 meters or so)

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth The most extensive forest are those of Siberia (Russia) and also in Canada's boreal, over 8000 km wide

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth The widest in Canada are 6 meters (21 feet) wide on Vancouver Island. The oldest are 2000 years old on the Sunshine Coast.

[Endangered Ecosystems @EndangeredEcos]

@dougkucher @LiveItearth The last I heard was about 100,000 species - but there are so many in the tropical rainforests, no one really knows