Scenic Pictures of Forests and Trees in BC

The Forest Edge

On the road to Carlson lake, at middle elevation, I was greeted by this site as I entered the forest. There was twinflower, various clubmosses and wintergreens, a young cypress tree, and even a few small salals. The forest edge is often quite high in biodiversity, even native biodiversity. The problem with clearcuts and roads however is that it creates too much of this edge habitat resulting in a massive loss of habitat for those species that are dependent on forest interior habitat.

A Look Up Into The Canopy of

Old Growth Douglas Fir

Sitting at the base of an old growth fir and looking up at the sunlight filtering through the canopy of trees. Some of my most peaceful times in my life have been spent standing at the base of an old growth tree, with my hands on its bark, and just looking up at it tower above me. There is something so humbling about a massive tree that's been there since long before you were born and will likely (hopefully) still be there long after you are gone.

Woodpeckered Old Snag

Even in its death a tree provides an abundance of life. This tree is filled with bugs which the woodpeckers have been feasting on. These standing snags are also great hosts for mushrooms which can be found in the fall and polypores such as bracket fungus which can be found all year.

Culturally Modified Yellow Cedar

I found this yellow cedar growing near the edge of a beautiful secluded lake in the Lyon Lakes area of the Caren Range mountains, coastal BC. The tree long ago had its bark harvested by local native americans, perhaps even before the coast was 'discovered' by Europeans. There are also numerous small burls on the tree around its base. This tree is easily 500 years old.

A Lonely Fir

I found this lonely old fir, a beautiful old growth tree that no longer had trees left around it. The sky was beautiful, the tree was beautiful, but I still found this site very sad so I took a picture of it to remind us that trees in nature don't grow all by themselves and when we must fall trees then we should leave patches, not single trees prone to windfall.

Oldest Hemlock Tree (Log) in Canada, Caren Range

This is a photo of my 2 kids standing on/with what remains of the oldest hemlock tree in Canada found in the Caren Range mountains. (I heard a rumor that an odler one was found, also in the Caren Range , so this may be the second oldest now). Trees in the Caren grow very slowly due to the high elevation and long seasonal snow cover in the winter, as a result they can get very old. While this tree I believe was dated around 1200-1300 years, incredibly old for a hemlock, this was not the oldest tree found in the Caren. Yellow Cedars have been dated at over 1835 years old, Canada's oldest tree, and it is believed that even older ones still remain standing, partially protected in the new Spipiyus Provincial Park.

In the Forest Death is Really Just the Beginning of New Life:

Old Lichen Covered Bog Snag

Photo top left. This old snag was litterally covered in lichens, I found it in a bog in the Lyon Lakes area of the Caren Range mountains in coastal BC. Old snags are an abundant source of biodiversity, providing habitat for countless species of insects, fungus, lichens, small mammals, birds, epiphytes, bacteria and more.

A Dying Fir Home to Fungus

A dying fir is often home to a large diversity of fungus species in addition to the lichens, insects, squirrels, birds and others that call it home.

Nurse Log Pacific Yew

Photo bottom left: A Pacific Yew tree on the edge of Homesite Creek had fallen over and some of the roots were still intact, instead of dying it sprouted dozens and dozens of new tops from its stem, and provides habitat for an assortment of mosses.

Mother Cedar Snag

Photo bottom right: An old cedar tree had died and remained in place as a snag. This snag then provided protection and nourishment for its own offspring as well as probably providing it with the entire host of mychorrhizal bacteria it needs at its roots to enhance nutrient uptake. It reminded us of a mother holding her arms around her young, protecting it.

Alder Burl

This is a photo of a gnarly looking alder burl. Burls are very common in our area on Acer macrophyllum as well as occasionally on yellow cedar, red cedar, alder and other species. They seem to be most common in deciduous trees such as maples, alders, oak, etc. No one really knows why a particular tree will form burls, but it is believed that burl formation is often stimulated by disease, injury, broken branches or invasion of parasitic plants such as mistletoe. There is also some speculation that heavy burl formation in maples especially could be caused by certain nutrient levels in the soils.