The adventure goes on …
Generally situated in shallows and along complex shorelines highly valued by recreational users, eelgrass meadows are both ecologically valuable and potentially threatened. They provide rearing habitats for the juvenile stages of many species of fish, foraging habitats for both migratory and resident bird species, and recent research also suggests that eelgrass plays a critical role in carbon sequestration.
Continue reading “Chatham Sound Eelgrass Study, July to September, 2012”
The Skeena River originates high in the coastal mountains of northwestern British Columbia, at the edge of the Spatsizi Plateau, and flows 610 km to reach the Pacific Ocean. Draining a total area of 54,400 km2, the Skeena is the second largest river in the province, and one of the longest un-dammed rivers in the world.
Eelgrass beds are both ecologically valuable and potentially threatened. They fall within the “critical” category of DFO’s habitat rating system, and DFO has concluded that eelgrass has characteristics which meet the criteria of an Ecologically Significant Species. The United Nations recently estimated a 15% loss in seagrass habitat globally over the last decade.