Whistler`s Old Trees (cont.)

Whistler’s
Old Trees
(cont.)
2003 -2004
2012
Why not use
existing age
data?
• Different goals (timber supply)
• Different methods
• Cut off at 250 years
Historic Age Class Distribution
?
Current Age Class Distribution
Tony Moser
1. Fire
2. Floods
3. Insects and Pathogens
4. Human Impacts
5. Infrequent and small-scale disturbances
Goals
1. Catalogue tree ages before
the rings are lost.
2. Explore the stand ages and
frequency of disturbances.
3. Help identify conservation
priorities and apply them
within the RMOW and CCF.
Methods - Coring
Coring
Ring Counting
Results, circa 2012
Size (diameter in centimeters
250
200
150
c
100
~210 years-old
50
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Age (years)
1. Big trees aren’t always old.
2. Small trees aren’t always young.
>1,200 years-old
Disturbances (Fires +?)
14
12
Number of Sites
10
1650-1700
8
6
Callaghan/Soo/Ancient Cedars
4
2
0
<999
1000- 12501249 1299
1300- 1350- 1400- 1500- 1550- 1575- 1600- 1625- 1650- 1675- 1700- 17501349 1399 1449 1549 1574 1599 1624 1649 1674 1699 1724 1774
Year
1775- 18001799 1824
1825- 1850- 18751849 1874 1899
19001924
Lost Lake Evidence of four fires:
~720, 470, 300, and 210 years ago.
Decker Burn
Douglas-fir Forests = Fire
Train Wreck: 340 years
Nita Lake: 600 yrs
Cut Yer Bars: 315 years
Alpha Lake Park: 300 yrs
More Old Douglas-firs
Suicide Hill:
~510 yrs
19-Mile Creek:
~670 yrs
Cheakamus Trail:
~500 yrs
Evidence of Floods
Valleybottom Spruce = Floods?
Edgewater: <1770
Spruce Grove: <1855
Fitzsimmons: <1770
Evidence of Insects & Pathogens
Mountain Pine Beetle
White Pine Blister Rust
Evidence of Human Impacts
• chart of age vs. size
Unlogged
Logged >1913
Human Impacts
Rainbow Park Pines
• Oldest tree dates to ~1913
5. Infrequent and small-scale disturbances
Total Age ≈ 1,288 years
(1,152 ‐ 1,673)
How ancient are the Ancient Cedars?
- 36 cores
- Likely age 800 to 1,000+ years
- Partial burn ~750 years ago?
High-Elevation Yellow-cedars = Old
Rainbow Trail: >800 years
Hwy 86 (Lower VDs): >800 yrs
Side Order: >1,200 years
Low-Elevation Yellow-Cedars, too
• >550 years
• possibly >1,000 years
Old Trees in
the Callaghan
“The oldest documented
living tree in Whistler”
Whistler Question, Oct.11, 2012
-
Incomplete core from Hanging Creek
-
1,017 rings
-
Total age ≈ 1,135 years (1,090-1,236)
“True” (Multi-generational) Old-Growth
Whistler
Mountain
Callaghan Valley
Mid
Cheakamus
Lake Trail
Ancient Cedars
Rainbow Trail
Historic Age
Class Mapping
Suggestions based on results…
Current Age
Class Mapping
More Accurate
Mapping of
Historic Age
Classes
Tony Moser
1. Extend age
class mapping
Historic Data
Current Data
Extended Age Classes
Tony Moser
2. Map at a more local scale, e.g., add
mid-elevation to low- and high-elevation
3. Stratify by
disturbance regime
4. Use forest management to
help re-create old forests sooner.
5. Conserve Whistler’s remaining Old Forests
Thanks
Dr. Lori Daniels, UBC Tree Ring Lab
Murray Dee
Coring Volunteers: Murray Dee, Don
Brett, Melanie Tardif, Adrien Baudouin,
Claire Ruddy, Kristina Swerhun
Paul Duncan
In-Kind: Arthur deJong
Claire Ruddy & Melanie Tardif
Site Suggestions: Bryce Leigh, Paul
Beswetherick, John Hammons, Arthur
deJong, Brad Sills, Brad Kasselman,
Eckhard Zeidler, and lots of others.
Adrien Baudouin