2011 was the first year UNBC Professor Dr. Darwyn Coxson began to study the salt marsh around the Cassiar Cannery. Dr. Coxson began with a rapid biodiversity assessment before hosting the first group of students enrolled in the Systematic Botany field course (Biology 301) from the University of Northern British Columbia.
The students were here for two days staying in our Guest Houses and utilizing the historic General Store as lab space.
ACTIVITIES IN 2011 INCLUDED:
- Initial Rapid Biodiversity Assessment of the Skeena Estuary Salt Marsh by Dr. Coxson
- Establish permanent markers for the transects along the foreshore of the Cassiar Cannery
- Plant samples collected, pressed and dried for identification
- First group of 16 students study the salt marshes along the transects cataloging species within a one-meter square along their specific transects from the tree line to the mudflats over two days
- Data collected for each section of each transect for species, salinity, elevation changes and some soil sampling
- Puddles sampled for salinity as well as the layers of the ocean in Inverness Passage
Check the press release issued by UNBC and Dr. Coxson highlighting the environmental importance the carbon stores of BC’s estuaries in additional to providing critical habitat for salmon, birds and mammals.
