Avalanche Snow Melting and Summer Streamflow Differences between High-Elevation Basins, Cascade Mountains, British Columbia, Canada

1996 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fes A. de Scally
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Snow Melting ◽  
Cascade Mountains

scholarly journals Seasonal Habitat Use and Movements of Mountain Goats, Oreamnos americanus, in East-central British Columbia

2003 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim G. Poole ◽  
Douglas C. Heard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
East Central ◽  
Oreamnos Americanus ◽  
Mountain Goats ◽  
Mineral Licks ◽  
Forest Use

To identify the potential for adverse effects of forest development on Mountain Goats (Oreamnos americanus), we documented the patterns of forest use by goats and the factors influencing goat habitat use. We used a combination of 15 very high frequency (VHF) and six global positioning system (GPS) radiocollars to document the distribution and movements of 21 (15 female, 6 male) goats from 1997 to 1999 in the mountains surrounding the Robson Valley in east-central British Columbia. Because canopy closure reduces the likelihood that a GPS receiver will obtain a location fix, we estimated that GPS collars underrepresented forest use by about 23%. Three goats used separate winter and summer ranges separated by 8–13 km, while most simply exhibited seasonal shifts in elevation. In winter, goats were more often at lower elevations, in commercial forest stands, on southerly aspects, and moved less each hour and over the course of the winter. Goat use declined in areas >500 m from escape terrain and goats were found lower in elevation from evening to dawn compared to daylight hours. Collared goats used high elevation licks, which were either within their home range, or in two cases, 6 and 14 km from their typical home range. We documented use of known mid-elevation mineral licks by three collared goats, but no use of known low elevation (valley bottom and lower slopes) mineral licks. Robson Valley goats appeared to be at relatively low risk from disturbances related to logging, because although forest use was documented during winter, it occurred primarily on high elevation, steep slopes where trees are currently of low commercial value, and goats made little use of low elevation mineral licks. We recommend that in this area a forested buffer of 500 m around cliffs be left to reduce the possibility of adverse effects on goats especially, on southerly aspects above 1300 m.

Phytoplankton assemblages in high-elevation lakes in the northern Cascade Mountains, Washington State USA

1998 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary L. Larson ◽  
C. David McIntire ◽  
Robert E. Truitt ◽  
William J. Liss ◽  
Robert Hoffman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Elevation ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Cascade Mountains ◽  
Phytoplankton Assemblages

scholarly journals Full-depth avalanche occurrences caused by snow gliding, Coquihalla, British Columbia, Canada

1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (151) ◽  
pp. 539-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Clarke ◽  
David McClung
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Free Water ◽  
Important Influence ◽  
Reliable Indicator ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Cascade Mountains ◽  
Sloping Ground ◽  
Snow Gliding

AbstractSnow glide is the translational slip of the entire snowpack over a sloping ground surface, and it is thought that rapid rates of snow glide precede full-depth avalanches. The nature of avalanches that release at the ground makes them difficult to predict and difficult to control using explosives.On-slope instrumentation comprised of stainless-steel "glide shoes" was used to measure rates of snow glide for two winters on a bedrock slope adjacent to the Coquihalla Highway, Cascade Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. Climate data and avalanche occurrences were recorded by the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Highways.Our results show that the supply of free water to the snow/ground interface by rain or snowmelt is the most important influence on full-depth avalanche release. Full-depth avalanche release responds to rainfall and snowmelt events within 12-24 hours. Occasionally, full-depth avalanches occur unexpectedly during clear, cold periods. Snowmelt by radiation is thought to contribute enough meltwater during these cold periods to induce higher rates of snow glide and full-depth avalanche release. The results also indicate that snow glide alone is not a reliable indicator for full-depth avalanche release.

Coquitlam Drift: a pre-Vashon Fraser glacial formation in the Fraser Lowland, British Columbia

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1443-1451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Hicock ◽  
John E. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Cascade Mountains ◽  
Short Pulses ◽  
Coast Mountains ◽  
The North ◽  
Glaciomarine Sediments

Coquitlam Drift is formally defined and stratotypes established for it in the Coquitlam – Port Moody area, B.C. It is a Pleistocene formation consisting of till, glaciofluvial, ice-contact, and glaciomarine sediments deposited between 21 700 and 18 700 years BP, during the Fraser Glaciation (late Wisconsin) and prior to the main Vashon glacial maximum at about 14 500 years BP. The drift was deposited in short pulses by valley and piedmont glaciers fluctuating into the Fraser Lowland from the Coast Mountains to the north and Cascade Mountains to the east.

Comparative life history features of the western spotted frog, Rana pretiosa, from low- and high-elevation populations

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 1254-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence E. Licht
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Female Fecundity ◽  
Size At Sexual Maturity ◽  
Rana Pretiosa

Comparisons are made of life history features of the western spotted frog, Rana pretiosa pretiosa, living at 70 m in southwestern British Columbia, and 2600 m in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming.Lowland tadpoles remain longer as larvae and transform at twice the body size as highland tadpoles.Growth rates of juveniles and adults are rapid in the lowland population and the same amount of growth achieved by them in 2–3 years takes 8–10 years for highland frogs.Body size at sexual maturity is the same for frogs from both populations, but B.C. frogs breed at half the age of Wyoming frogs. Female fecundity, the number of eggs at spawning, is the same, but lowland females breed annually, while high-elevation females breed only every 2 or 3 years.Various explanations are put forth to account for observed differences.

scholarly journals Translocation and Recovery Efforts for the Telkwa Caribou, Rangifer tarandus caribou, Herd in Westcentral British Columbia, 1997-2005

2007 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Vik Stronen ◽  
Paul Paquet ◽  
Stephen Herrero ◽  
Seán Sharpe ◽  
Nigel Waters
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Caribou ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
High Elevations

During 1997–1999, 32 Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) were translocated from the Sustut Herd to the Telkwa Mountains in westcentral British Columbia to augment recovery of the Telkwa Caribou Herd. The animals were fitted with radiocollars and located during 1997–2000 to determine selection of habitat features and terrain variables. Six Caribou calves were also collared to determine causes and timing of calf mortality during summer 1999. Defining available habitat for newly translocated animals is often arbitrary and subjective, and we based the analyses on ranks for habitat use and availability as this is less sensitive to the inclusion or exclusion of a questionable resource. This method represents some loss of information but provides indications of the relative importance of various habitat types without classifying any as avoided. High elevation habitat (> 1700 masl) on moderate slopes (16 – 45°) received the highest ranks, as did “warm” (136 – 315°) aspects and forests > 250 years old. Three calves died shortly after birth. One calf appeared to have been killed by predation, likely by a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and one calf was abandoned by the cow. Cause of death for the third calf is unknown. To assess habitat use associated with calving we compared summer locations with data obtained throughout the rest of 1999 for eight cows with calves and eight without calves. We found significant difference in use of elevation during calving time, when cows with calves remained at high elevations and barren cows generally descended to lower elevation habitat. Surveys conducted in 2005, five years after the completion of the initial study, produced a count of approximately 90 Caribou. This suggests that in the short term, the translocation was successful in re-establishing a self-sustaining Caribou population in the Telkwa Mountains.

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