This section includes research that has not been carried out at the QRRC, but that is in the Quesnel River watershed. Our aim is to provide community members and researchers with an inclusive database of research that is going on in the area. If you would like to be added to our QRRC research database please contact us.
Wind-driven Summertime Upwelling in a Fjord-type Lake and its Impact on Downstream River Conditions: Quesnel Lake and River, British Columbia, Canada
In: Journal of Great Lakes Research 34(1):189-203. 2008
Bernard E. Laval, John Morrison, Dan J. Potts, Eddy C. Carmack, Svein Vagle, Christina James, Fiona A. McLaughlin, and Michael Foreman
Abstract
Observations and modeling results are presented to explore the response of a multi-basin, fjord-type lake to episodic wind forcing. Field observations show that abrupt cooling and warming events (magnitude greater than 5°C d-1) lasting 3–6 days in a large, salmon-bearing river (Quesnel River) are due to upwelling in its upstream lake (Quesnel Lake) during the summer, stratified season. Within the lake, vertical displacement of isotherms in the vicinity of the river mouth associated with this upwelling is shown to be forced by wind events longer than one quarter of the fundamental seiche period and of sufficient magnitude that the Wedderburn number approaches one. Upwelling occurs nearly-simultaneously throughout a smaller basin adjacent to the outflow (West Basin) that is separated from the Main Basin of Quesnel Lake by a sill and contraction. Wind-driven water fluxes across the sill are estimated using a conceptual model based on volume and heat budgets. These estimates provide an upper bound for flow across the sill and suggest that exchange flow may at times be internally hydraulically controlled, with epilimnetic velocities of up to ~25 cm/s. Computed fluxes suggest the West Basin hypolimnion has a residence time of 6–8 weeks during the summer stratified period with each upwelling episode irreversibly exchanging 25–30% of the hypolimnetic volume with the rest of the lake. Implications of such events are profound for salmon bearing rivers wherein the thermal habitat is critical to migration success.
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Ministry of Environment
List of area research for the Horsefly River watershed.
This is a list of reports that have been written about the Horsefly River watershed. This list includes reports on: moose, caribou, grizzly bear, goshawk, bats and fish.
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Frozen Fieldwork
Dr. Tim Stott
Abstract
Global climate change is impacting watershed hydrology and our use of
water-related resources particularly in snow and glacier-fed drainage
basins. The dominant trend is that most glaciers are out of equilibrium
with the current climate and they are slowly adjusting to seasonal changes
in precipitation and higher temperatures by showing negative mass balance,
significant volume loss and retreat in most areas. In terms of landscape
evolution, this widespread and rapid retreat of mountain glaciers is
revealing new expanses of fresh glacial debris and changing the stability, dynamics and potential fluvial transport of the systems.
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Likely Community Tourism Plan 2007
Carolyn Mead, Lea Thuot, Amanda Moore, Anke Metzger
This tourism plan was created for the community of Likely and reflects the vision, goals and ideals that the community residents, businesses, and organizations have with respect to future development. Several strategies are outlined that will help achieve the tourism vision and core guiding principles are identified based on input from community members during the Community Planning Process held in October of 2007.
The plan was developed by five senior level students at Vancouver Island University, formerly Malaspina University-College, as a project for the Tourism Research Innovation Project (TRIP). The plan is an outcome of the relationship built between community residents in Likely and the TRIP team where initial contact was made on the 2007 extension tour, with follow-up visits by the central regional liaison Randy Love and a week long community planning process by the Malaspina students as part of their policy and planning course.
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Community Forests as a New Model for Forest Management in British Columbia.
Evelyn Pinkerton
Research on community-based management, ecosystem-based management, and co-management of natural resources has not previously attempted an interdisciplinary analysis of such a complex issue within a specific and compelling political, economic, ecological, and cultural context. Research results will contribute to forest policy reform in BC, likely helping to reverse the proportion of forests managed by large integrated firms versus small producers serving regional markets, which is more characteristic of successful situations in the US, Europe, and Chile. BC, because of its innovative community forests and natural endowments, has the potential to surpass the achievements of other jurisdictions if well-informed policies are adopted.
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Understanding the spatial and quality attributes of culturally important non-timber forest product species in mountain pine beetle affected areas of the Cariboo-Chilcotin
Wendy Cocksedge
This three-year project will look at the effects of mountain pine beetle on selected understory plant species which are of high cultural importance and priority to the T'exelc and Xats’ull First Nations. Both Nations continue to rely on traditionally used forest botanical species for cultural, recreational, subsistence and economic activities. Over the past several decades, the commercial use and awareness of many forest resources has risen dramatically due to various reasons such as increased global market demand, rural communities requiring alternatives for economic diversification, increased awareness of health and nutraceutical benefits, and a growing interest in cultural revitalisation. The expansion of the sector has been beneficial for many individuals and communities, but has also raised a number of concerns around resource and access rights, over-harvesting, and stewardship of the species and their ecosystems. There is currently no methodology developed for incorporating non-timber forest products into conventional vegetation inventories, and therefore it is difficult, if not impossible, to ensure sustainability of this sector. Overlaying this scenario is an increase of disturbance within areas traditionally harvested, including logging, fires and, recently, severe mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreaks. The mountain pine beetle, by effectively killing large portions of the pine forests, is inevitably affecting the distribution, abundance and quality of the understory. This in turn affects community access to and ability to use these species. Understanding which species are important to the communities and how to assess and incorporate the species quality (i.e. whether it is sufficient for traditional/NTFP use) within vegetation inventories is the first step necessary to ensure appropriate methods of study, as currently there are no adequate methods available to incorporate quality information within vegetation inventories. With these tools, it will then be possible to look at the distribution, abundance and quality of the species within MPB affected areas, compare with non-affected areas or historical data in order to understand the effect of the MPB on the understory and therefore help to address remediation of effects and possibly guide restoration efforts.
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The Cross-Cultural Collaboration of the Community Forest
Erin Robinson
Cross-cultural collaboration between First Nations and non-First Nations people in the context of local resource management has not been comprehensively documented in Canada. This thesis explores how two cultures are collectively managing local land as equal partners. My research has been guided by the question: How can First Nations and non-First Nations communities work together to manage local land in a way that fosters meaningful cross-cultural partnerships and builds sustainable communities? Data about the case study, the Likely/Xats’ull Community Forest, was obtained through ethnography, participant observation and semi-structured interviews. I will discuss the strategies and policies that have been created by citizens at the local level to make this project a success. First Nation citizens from the Xats’ull Nation are collaborating with the non-First Nation community of Likely to create a new social reality by collectively participating to manage a community forest. Local people are exemplifying what can be accomplished when decision-making over land management is carried out at the grassroots level. By working together, local citizens are focusing on similarities as well as common goals and interests that can be improved through cross-cultural work; stabilizing local control of the forest with all of its inherent values.
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Cross-Cultural Collaboration of the Community Forest
In: Anthropologica, Canada's Anthropology Journal
Vol. 52 No. 2
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Impact of Rural Restructuring: A study of women, work,
industry, family, health and policy in the Cariboo-Chilcotin
Adrienne Wasik
I am a community-based researcher with Simon Fraser University based in Williams Lake. I am currently conducting a multi-year research project in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. The project focuses on the restructuring of our social and health services, other government funded services and programming, and the restructuring of our economy, local businesses and industry. The project looks at the processes and impacts of the changes across these various sectors, how they are interconnected, and how rural communities, women and households in the region are affected by and responding to these conditions and changes.
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Tracer experiments to measure interstitial transit time
distributions in bed sediments
Dr Marcel van der Perk
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Co-managing communication crisis and opportunities between Northern Secwepemc First Nations and the province of British Columbia
G. Greskiw and J.L. Innes
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The Community Forest Agreement in British Columbia: Case Study of an Alternative Tenure Model
Lisa Ambus
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Can do! Will Do Done! A Case Study on Tourism Development in Likely, BC
Randy Love and Nicole L. Vaugeois
Water quality & quantity related to rates of pine beetle infestation & salvage logging
Dr. Sandra Brown
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Collaboration between UNBC, the University of Basel and the University of Exeter
Dr. Nikolaus J. Kuhn
Physical Geography and Environmental Change
Departement of Environmental Science
University of Basel
Klingelbergstr. 27
The collaboration between UNBC, the University of Basel and the University of Exeter focuses on understanding the current, future and past dynamics of carbon in boreal forest landscapes. Detailed inventories of forest soil carbon are established through this project. The aim of this collaborative research is twofold. First, geostatistically sound methods of soil sampling in spatially diverse and dynamic environments are developed. Second, the results of the inventories are used to assess the effects of geology, topography, microclimate and forest age and history on soil carbon storage. Initial results indicate that the spatial variability of soil carbon is highly dependent on logging and reforestation history. Planted clear cuts show low carbon stocks and spatial variability while selected harvesting with natural regrowth contains more soil organic matter. The second line of research focuses on the carbon storage history of boreal forests. Reconstruction of the changes in landscape carbon stocks is based on sediment analysis from Boswell Lake, near the town of Likely. First results show a contrast of relatively stable environmental conditions throughout most of the Holocene, followed by a recent dramatic change, indicated by a shift from carbonatic sedimentation to deposition of organic and mineral material. Currently, the role of recent land use (the 19th century Gold Rush) and land cover change in sedimentation is examined. Six MSc. students and one PhD. student are participating in this collaborative research at QRRC between UNBC and the Universities of Basel and Exeter.
For more information please contact Dr. Kuhn.