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Moderate temperatures and
high precipitation combine to produce the long
wet growing period resulting in lush rain forest
vegetation. Along the coastal edge, a stunted
spruce windbreak buffers the forces of the ocean
wind and spray to protect an inner forest of
giant Sitka Spruce (on Carmanah Creek, the world’s
tallest Sitka spruce is 95 metres). Further
inland, amabilis fir, western hemlock, and western
red cedar with an understory of red huckleberry,
salmonberry, blueberry and salal give way to
old growth forests. Characterized by mosses
and ferns, these giant conifers can be over
2 000 years old and 20 metres in circumference.
Where there is poor drainage, shorepine stunted
by nutrient deficiency, sphagnum moss, Labrador
tea and bog laurel adapt to the wet marsh. Along
flooded stream banks and cleared roadsides,
groves of alder grow together with willows,
cascara, salmonberry and thimbleberry; Saskatoonberry,
and Nootka rose hug the transition zone between
rocky shoreline and forest. The grasses and
sedges of the salt marshes and eelgrass along
tide channels provide essential habitat for
wildfowl. Where sand dunes have developed, deep-rooted
grasses provide stabilization, while kinnikinnick
forms the base for future vegetation. Closer
to the waters edge, beach rye, beach pea and
giant vetch grow among drift logs while only
searocket and sandwort can withstand the action
of tides and waves on the sandy foreshore. The
sub-tidal zone conditions are ideal for kelp,
which grows in rafts up to 30 metres deep; this
is a popular feeding ground for grey whales.
Within the woodland areas,
large denizens include blacktail deer, black
bear, raccoon, marten and weasel. The evolution
of distinct sub-species of cougar, mink, wolf,
a species of marmot found only on Vancouver
Island, a rare blond bear, and the Roosevelt
elk may date back to a time of lower sea levels
during the last glaciation, when they could
have crossed from the mainland. The bald eagle
is a common sight here as well as garter snakes,
leatherback turtles that are considered endangered,
Pacific tree frogs and several species of salamanders
inhabit the forests.
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