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First Person: Bob Brett

Making an inventory of Whistler’s natural biodiversity
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Ecologist Bob Brett sifts through a jungle of swamp grasses in the Millar Creek wetlands, looking for rare or invasive species.

Over the past three years local ecologist Bob Brett has been everywhere, from the top of local peaks to the bottom of our valley swamps, cataloguing all the plants, animals and insects he finds.

On many of these trips he has been joined by experts on plants, amphibians, insects, and small mammals, using funds provided by organizations like the Community Foundation of Whistler, the Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE), and the Whistler Naturalists.

The goal of the Whistler Biodiversity Project (WBP) is to create a list of all species found in Whistler and how they relate in the ecosystem; to identify any rare species requiring extra attention and conservation; and to spot any imported or invasive species that can upset the balance of Whistler’s natural ecology, and to facilitate their removal.

Brett also hopes that WBP will help to educate people on the Whistler ecology, to the point where people plant native species in their gardens and join in the battle against invasive species.

To date, WBP has catalogued more than 900 native species and 76 non-native species of plants and animals in Whistler, the latter being mostly ornamental house plants. When combined with lists of species kept by groups like local bird watchers and the Whistler Fisheries Stewardship Group, Brett’s list of native species is now over 1,120, with 89 non-native species.

The WBP has also helped to identify several rare, blue-listed species that require additional care and management. Most recently Brett and amphibian specialist Elke Wind confirmed the existence of red-legged frogs along Whistler’s southern boundary in the Brandywine area, as well as the widespread existence of tailed frogs in creeks throughout the valley. We also have two species of rare plants, and the status of up to 28 other rare species is being clarified.

Pique caught up to Bob Brett to discuss the progress of the biodiversity inventory, as well as his future plans for the WBP.

Pique: This is the third year for the biodiversity inventory. How far along are you at this point?

Bob Brett: Our approach has been to target different species groups at different rates, so I’d say we’re very far along with plants, big mushrooms and amphibians, and we’re not very far along with bats, lichens, and insects and other invertebrates, which is by the far the biggest group.

It’s kind of funny, the biggest analogue to the biodiversity project as a whole is the bird work done over the last 20 years or so by really keen local birders like Karl Ricker, Mike Thompson, Heather Baines, Nancy Ricker, Max Goetz when he was here, and they’ve done a phenomenal job maintaining their list. That’s actually quite typical as naturalist groups are very strong on birds, but not as strong on other species. People like birds and bird-watching, but there’s not many people who spend their free time wading through swamps.

Pique: What are some of the biggest surprises you’ve uncovered in the inventory? Are we missing any species that should be here right now?

BB: One of the tricky things about a survey is that you can only detect a presence; you can’t confirm an absence, which is a bit of a challenge. We know that some species have been extirpated, like the spotted owl.

But I don’t know if surprise is the right word either. I do get excited every time I go out there, to be honest, and every time we go out there looking for plants and animals we’re finding new things. Most recently we found red-legged frogs in the Brandywine area, which is this year’s highlight so far.

We also found a couple of rare plants for the first time a couple of years ago, and it’s been fun to confirm that they are species that nobody knew were in Whistler. We’re also finding different species aggregations, different ecosystems where the community of species is different. We know that when we find a few species of trees and plants in one area, we’re likely to find other species in that area as well, which will help us a lot in the future.

I was amazed when we went up to Whistler’s peak, just the diversity of plants up there was pretty surprising. There were some really interesting finds right at the top of the peak poking out of the rocks.

Pique: It’s obviously still a work in progress, but has the inventory helped guide any policy for conservation or for handling invasive species?

BB: The ultimate goal of the project is for the conservation of our native biodiversity. Because of the staged approach we’re using, first we’ll need to figure out what’s here and that will lead us to finding indicator species to let us know how we’re doing on the management side. Right now we’re at an early stage where we’re getting really effective monitoring, and in terms of management the most progress we’ve made is in terms of amphibians. We don’t have new policies, but some of our results do lead to direct management implications.

For example, we’re showing just how important small ephemeral ponds are to all sorts of salamanders and frogs in our area, some of which can be found right in people’s backyards. Those are the ones that tend to get bulldozed for development because these ponds are not always recognized as habitat — they’ve never been mapped because they’re too small to map, or the work is done later in the year when the ponds have dried up.

On the invasive species side, the municipality has already started to do some invasive species control. Combined with the survey data we’re getting, especially this summer, that will lead to better monitoring of invasive species and hopefully stopping their spread.

Just knowing what’s here is a start. As we build our knowledge of what species are active we can properly guide our management activities to conserve them. Until we knew red-legged frogs were here, we couldn’t properly direct our management.

Pique: Like Whistler-Blackcomb finding tailed frogs on the Olympic downhill course, and taking steps to protect or rebuild their habitat.

BB: Yes, but we also need conservation at more than the site level. That’s why we did a valley-wide study of tailed frogs in 19 creeks last year. It’s the first time that scale of work has been done in Whistler, and now we have a much better sense of where they are. The Olympic downhill course is now being done the best way possible under the usual site-restricted scenario, but unless we can get a valley-wide context… it’s hard to come up with best management practices.

Pique: What invasive species are of greatest concern right now?

BB: The main one right now would be Japanese knotweed. Actually, humans are number one, but Japanese knotweed is an incredibly aggressive weed that has been planted as an ornamental in many places and has escaped. We now know it’s in Whistler, and that it is already well-established in Squamish. It seems to mainly spread by moving materials around like construction fill, but once it gets into the water system it can spread like crazy. Ethan Askey noticed a bush on the side of the highway that likely came in with the gravel, and we confirmed it as knotweed. Even the smallest piece of stem or root can take hold. Since then I’ve noticed another one planted in a garden.

Purple loosestrife is another example that travels by water, but so far it doesn’t seem to be spreading. Scotch broom is popping up all over and is a big concern, but I think we can knock it back with a little effort.

On the animal front, it’s mainly things like bullfrogs we’re looking for because of the way they displace other native species. One researcher called them hopping trashcans because they will eat anything.

In the bigger picture my biggest concern is that we’re really on the cusp of finding invasive species everywhere, and that fits in with a larger global problem. Have you ever heard of the Planet of Weeds theory? Basically there is concern that weedy species — and they could be animals — that benefit from human-caused disturbances, like robins, deer, dandelions, will end up taking over.

Pique: Has there been any action on getting rid of species like the knotweed?

BB: The one knotweed shrub we’ve identified so far will be removed by Kiewit’s highway construction crews when they widen the highway. They are definitely working to make sure it gets disposed of properly.

Invasive species are definitely on the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s radar, and there are a number of provincial initiatives ongoing right now that work with groups like the Greater Vancouver Invasive Plant Council. There are efforts to bring in legislation to prohibit the sale of invasive species like Scotch broom, knotweed, purple loosestrife, and foxglove that are spreading everywhere.

Pique: Is there anything we can do locally, through bylaws?

BB: What I would like to see is a list of species that are unwelcome in Whistler, which means they can’t be sold in local nurseries, they can’t be planted by landscaping companies, and they have to be removed when they are spotted — things like broom, which is everywhere. I’d rather see landscapers remove broom than native blueberry bushes.

I’d like to come up with a list of plants that are native and non-native, which would refine what the municipality or local landscapers would want to plant.

Even compared to what’s invasive in Vancouver, what’s invasive in Whistler will be a lot different because we have a different climate.

Pique: It seems like a lot of local plants are imported, like the koi (carp) that were dropped into Millar Creek pond a few years ago or species of plants like Scotch broom. How do we get people to start thinking about native species?

BB: What I’m advocating through the inventory is to have naturescaping done, where we would only plant native species. There are three challenges there. The first is to get people to care about it and see it as a goal, and it’s already in Whistler2020. The second is to identify what’s native. The third is to find a nursery that provides native plants. For example, it’s often very difficult to find a nursery selling native grasses rather than non-native grasses.

When it comes to the concept of native species, I think we still have a sense that our native species are not as interesting as species that are exotic. But I’d love to have a Whistler where all the plants you see belong here, so someone who comes from Aspen knows they’re in Whistler. Whistler is not Aspen, we shouldn’t have blue spruce here, but that’s the aesthetic we’ve developed and we want to see those species.

I’m not arguing against daffodils and tulips, bulb plants that don’t spread, but the ones that spread or cross-pollinate with native species like roses, maples, hawthorns and spruces.

Pique: What about Japanese Maples?

BB: From what I understand, Japanese Maples are unlikely to hybridize with our native species, but other non-native maples could. If that continues, eventually we could lose our native species, everything will be a hybrid with something else.

Pique: Tell me about BioBlitz. What is it, what do you hope to accomplish, and how can the public get involved?

BB: BioBlitz is a concept out of the United States led by E.O. Wilson, who is a biodiversity icon. The idea is to have a 24-hour race to see how many organisms researchers can count in a given area, from the trees down to microorganisms and algae. It’s definitely based on having very good scientists and good amateur naturalists, but the real goal is to involve the public and let them discover how much biodiversity there is in our own backyard.

This is the first year for Whistler, and it will run from noon to noon on Aug. 11 and 12. I expect we’ll have about 30 scientists involved this year, who would be team leaders. They will be the arbiter of what gets counted as a discovery or not, and we hope to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to participate — it could be batting, looking for small animals, tromping around looking for plants, looking for dragonflies and snails. One of the biggest pushes, if all scientists commit, will be on insects.

Pique: I understand you’ll also be using BioBlitz to identify experts to use in the biodiversity inventory?

BB: My experience is that a lot of field biologists think of Whistler as being a bit of a wasteland, completely paved over and developed. When we get them here for the first time, and can show them that there is still a lot of natural habitat left, they have a good experience and want to come back.

Pique: How are other groups contributing to the WBP?

BB: Our main contributions have come from the Environmental Legacy Fund, through the Community Foundation of Whistler and AWARE, as well as the Whistler Naturalists. We’ve also got some co-operation from Nicklaus North and the Whistler Golf Course this year, who have let us study their wetlands.

There are a lot of contributions. We have the bird list, all kinds of studies coming out of the municipality by their fish and wildlife technicians on fish and bugs in the creeks and wetlands. There’s a swimmer’s itch study, the mosquito study looking for West Nile.

Actually, you asked earlier about surprises, and one of the biggest surprises and revelations to me is just how much local knowledge is out there. And one thing we need to tap into is getting people to tell us what they’ve seen, especially when it comes to harder-to-track things like snakes, lizards, frogs, salamanders, bats, small mammals and all the other animals that tend to be a little bit secretive. I’ve never seen a muskrat, but apparently they’re here. We just found an animal that hasn’t been reported anywhere yet in the Brandywine, a shrew-mole, which is the first occurrence north of Squamish. Plants are easier to find because they don’t move, but for secretive animals many avoid detection unless you have a lot of eyes out looking for them.

Pique: Will your study expand with Whistler’s boundary expansion? And are there plans to use the WBP to guide things like the proposed community forest?

BB: It will be interesting to see what happens, because the WBP could really help us to do some excellent forestry and forest management. Usually we don’t have much fine scale knowledge of native biodiversity when loggers go into an area. They do check before they log, but on a broad scale and not in the resolution that we will have.

We know we don’t have spotted owls here, so we don’t manage for spotted owls. But our goal should be to recreate spotted owl habitat because they used to exist here, and they could again as the second growth forest matures. And the old forest habitat necessary for spotted owls also supports many other species we haven’t even begun to appreciate.

Pique: Other than BioBlitz, what else is being planned for the WBP this year?

BB: One of the main focus areas for expanding our knowledge is on plant diversity, so we’ll be spending more time in the alpine and in the rocky outcrops, and in alpine wetlands. One of our biggest focuses will continue to be amphibians, where we’ve completed the first stage and have two more stages to go. Also, we’ll continue to look for invasive plants. Another thing we’d like to do is put our information on the web, so people can learn about what’s been found so far and contribute their own findings. If anyone has photos they want to send me or accounts of what they’ve seen — especially when it comes to those secretive animals or insects like dragonflies — I’d love to see them.

I’m really interested in snake sightings. We had two possible rubber boa sightings last year that Leslie Anthony and myself are pretty excited to explore. They are blunt at both ends, grey in colour and a have a rubbery texture like stretched out play-dough.

Pique. Is there anything else you wanted to add?

BB. Did you know that 2010 will be the United Nations’ International Year on Biodiversity? Their goal is to highlight the UN's Biodiversity 2010, a program which aims to reduce biodiversity losses around the globe. Biodiversity 2010 was one of the reasons why the Whistler Biodiversity Project was created.

Whistler now has a perfect opportunity to partner with the United Nations to really stand up for biodiversity and show the world we're serious about protecting native species and their habitats. I'm not sure what that will look like, but I hope it will mean a green legacy — maybe in the form of a big swath of critical habitat we designate as a biodiversity reserve. I love the idea that we can make the local to global connection from Whistler to the UN's Biodiversity 2010.

If you see any species of interest or would like a copy of the 2007 progress report on the WBP, contact Bob Brett at bob@snowlineresearch.ca . The progress report is also available online at www.EFlora.ca and www.Efauna.ca .

More information on BioBlitz will be posted in the coming weeks.



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