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TERRESTRIAL PART OF GREAT RACE ROCKS |
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| In April of 2001, Lester Pearson College contracted with BC Parks to do a floristic survey on the Terrestrial part of Great Race Rocks Island. This coincides with the lease for the islands being returned to the Province and the terrestrial portion of Great Race Rocks being added to the existing Ecological reserve. This island had been used by the British Navy and then by the Canadian Coast Guard since the 1800's . During that time, many light keepers had brought ashore soil and had planted gardens for their own provisioning. Along with the soil came many introduced species, and over the years, those species of plants that have been tolerant of the salt spray and the extreme drough of the summer months have survived. A further selective force was the "trimming and mowing" of the grass and the rock knolls on the island. Fire was always a hazard and as a result every attempt was made to prevent the build up of organic materials. In 1997 when Lester Pearson College started managing the environment on the island, a decision was made to attempt to restore the grassed area to a more natural environment. This study, started by Julia Clark and others in April of 2001 represents a baseline recording of the locations of existing introduced species. There are a few small populations of native species that will also be included. | |||||||||||
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 Perhaps the rarest plant association that occurs on the island is that of the Romanzoffia tracyi . This plant lives only in the supralittoral fringe along the rocky coastline of the Pacific North West. The locations of the two small areas with populations of this species are included in this survey . |
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| Procedure for the survey.
1. We will design a grid for the whole island based on the 1998 topographic survey by Kerr-Priestman 2. The grid will enable us to give actual metric coordinates for all locations on the island. The 0,0 coordinate will of necessity be located somewhere out in the water on the South side of the island. The surveyed stakes on the island will therefore be noted as origin points at their appropriate coordinates on the grid. This is somewhat unusual as a technique as normally the 0,0 coordinate is in the lower left hand corner of the map and all locations are measured from there. See this reference on this aspect: |
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