Marbeled Murrelet researcher in canopy
Crawling with reasons for preservation
The canopy of British Columbia's ancient temperate rainforest literally is crawling with lifeforms entirely new to science.
Just ask UVic entomology instructor Neville Winchester.
"By the time we complete our study in the Upper Carmanah, we will have discovered at least 200 new species of insects that live in the old-growth coastal forest," says Winchester. "And that's a very conservative estimate".
Many of these newly discovered lifeforms are permanent residents of ancient forest's canopy. Here, among the thick moss mats that blanket the massive tree branches, hides a unique habitat containing a unique community of insects. And like so many other aspects of the coastal rainforest, scientists know virtually nothing at all about this canopy habitat--how it contributes to the stability and longevity of the trees and its overall importance in this ancient forest ecosystem.
One of the most significant finds Winchester has made so far is the fact that many of the insects that make their home in the ancient temperate rainforest are definitely not found in second-growth forests. They are unique to the old-growth. It takes at least several hundred years for one of their key habitats to develop in a growing tree, the thick moss pads on the large branches.
Contrasting government priorities
Amount of money the British Columbia government spent in 1993 on a public relations newspaper sent to every household in the province in 1 effort to justify its decision to log two-thirds of the remaining temperate rainforest in Clayoquot Sound--the largest intact low-elevation big-tree temperate rainforest left .........................................$220,000
Amount of money the British Columbia government spent in 1993 to support research into discovering new insect lifeforms in the canopy and forest floor of Vancouver Island's ancient temperate rainforest in the Upper Carmanah--the only study of its kind in the world ........................................$15,000
