MABRRI Research Projects

Along with two other biosphere regions in Canada, the MABR is being mentored by the Canadian Biosphere Regions Association and Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere to leverage community climate conversations with a focus on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of Building Climate Resilient Communities in the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region is to engage with regional partners to identify a collaborative approach to climate resilience and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The project aims to adapt components of the Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere’s ICECAP (Integrated Community Energy and Climate Action Plans) model – a partnership between municipalities and First Nations that aims to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and adapt to a changing climate by building greater resilience. 

For more information, please contact Jessica.Pyett@viu.ca

In partnership with the Ministry of Forests, BC Parks, and Milner Gardens & Woodland, MABRRI is working to assess and monitor climate change effects on local plant phenology – the timing of seasonally reoccurring events such as bud break, leaf size, flower development, and ripe fruit. By monitoring the growing seasons of different coastal plants, and by comparing these growing seasons to microclimate data, we can work to identify any potential changing trends in the growing seasons of Vancouver Island’s ecosystems.

This project is monitoring phenological changes in native plant species at seven research sites: Milner Gardens & Woodland, Thetis Lake Regional Park, Mount Arrowsmith Massif Regional Park, Bowser Ecological Reserve, Koksilah River Provincial Park, North Cowichan, and VIU Woodlot. Microclimate stations and a series of trail cameras have been installed at all sites to link phenological records to local climate. MABRRI, student researchers, and citizen scientists also collect in-person data weekly during the summer and biweekly during the spring and fall at Milner Gardens & Woodland. Data collection will continue for a number of years in order to see how growing seasons may be shifting with changing climate patterns.

We depend on our volunteers to help with in-person data collection throughout the growing season. If you are interested in joining us in the field to observe and record phenological changes in our species, please contact Jessica.Pyett@viu.ca.

The Ecological Accounting Process (EAP) is a tool designed to help local governments integrate natural assets into their asset management plans. Similar to how built infrastructure is budgeted for, the EAP calculates a suggested budget to maintain and manage stream systems in response to development pressures. It was formulated with the intention of offering a standardized approach to provide local governments with a starting figure in budgeting for natural asset management. 

To do this, the EAP calculates a Natural Capital Asset value based on land assessment data which reflects the impacts of development on riparian areas. This value is then used to inform the recommended budget for the maintenance and management of the stream system. Studies may also include further GIS analyses of the riparian conditions, such as impervious surface coverage, vegetation, and rainwater pathways. 

In partnership with the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia (PWSBC), MABRRI has been involved in six EAP trial studies in BC from 2016-2022. Some of these studies included Bowker Creek in Victoria, the Millstone River in Nanaimo, and Bings Creek in the Cowichan Valley Regional District. In 2023, MABRRI and VIU began a three-year transition strategy with PWSBC, the Regional District of Nanaimo, the Municipality of North Cowichan, and the City of Nanaimo, to integrate the EAP methodology into MABRRI and VIU. Throughout this transition strategy, one study has been completed per local government partner per year, totaling nine studies by the end of the three-year period. This strategy has been strengthened by student involvement, and offers Master’s students relevant work experience sponsored by Mitacs internships. Today, MABRRI continues to partner with PWSBC and local governments to expand on, further refine, and share the EAP.

For more information, please contact Kirsten.Hogg@viu.caKirsten.Hogg@viu.ca

The Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN) developed the Permanent Forest Plot Project (PFPP), which involves universities throughout North America; students and faculty from different institutions are given a strict protocol to follow when they are establishing their forest plots. The goal of the PFPP is to establish permanent forest plots in a range of different ecosystems, which will allow students and faculty to observe and compare different aspects, such as biomass, carbon sequestering abilities, species diversity and presence or absence of invasive species, in varying ecosystems.

In 1999, Dr. Glen Jamieson and the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Foundation (MABF) established a 100m x 100m forest plot at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park. The MABF collected the location, size and type of each tree in the plot but never returned to continue monitoring the sites after their establishment. In 2016, MABRRI established two interior, 20m x 20m forest plots, using the EREN protocol, within the MABF plot and two edge plots outside the MABF plot. In addition to the sites at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, the MABRRI student researchers established two new plots at Milner Gardens & Woodland in February 2017; there was one interior and one edge plot established. The MABRRI team will continue to monitor each of these sites every five years, documenting the species, size, location and status (alive or dead) of each of the trees within each plot. All collected data is uploaded on the EREN database; therefore, along with Vancouver Island University, other institution’s faculty and students can use our data to calculate different parameters, including biomass, carbon sequestering abilities, and species richness and make comparisons between the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR) and the region they live in. The MABRRI student researchers will be able to recognize how these regions of the MABR are changing and how they may be effected differently by climate change.

For more information, please contact Kyla.Seward@viu.ca

The Forage Fish Spawning Habitat Monitoring Project, for which MABRRI is seeking to identify where and when Pacific sand lance and surf smelt are spawning along the mid-Vancouver Island and Gulf Island coastlines, began in October 2017. Forage fish are one of the most critical linkages between the lower trophic levels and upper trophic level species, such as Pacific salmon and killer whales. MABRRI is following similar methods to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, whom have undertaken these spawning habitat surveys for decades. 

This project, which is part of an ongoing initiative to involve citizen scientists in forage fish spawning habitat monitoring, is minimizing existing data gaps by positively identifying active forage fish spawning habitat through the collection of sediment samples from locations with known favourable habitat characteristics. To recruit volunteers and maintain their involvement in the program, forage fish sampling training sessions are frequently hosted along the coast. MABRRI collects the samples from the citizen scientists and analyzes them for presence of embryos. After analysis, all results are passed on to the respective groups, ensuring that citizen scientists are engaged throughout the entire process. 

Currently, MABRRI is working with 7 citizen science groups and individual volunteers to sample over 100 beach stations spanning from Qualicum Bay to Cowichan Bay. Along with the collected sediment samples, beach characteristics are recorded, and photos are taken in order to gain a more holistic idea of how the beaches change throughout the year and aid in identifying long-term trends. All results that are collected by MABRRI and our community volunteers are contributed to the Strait of Georgia Data Centre, ensuring that all data collected is transparent and available to be used to inform habitat preservation and conservation. Once this network has generated a multi-year data set, it will then be possible for our partners to propose evidence-based modifications to policy and management practices pertaining to Pacific sand lance and surf smelt spawning habitat in the Salish Sea. 

If you or your stewardship group are interested in contributing to this continuously growing project, please contact Jacob.Frankel@viu.ca or Kyla.Seward@viu.ca for more details.

In the summer of 2016 MABRRI partnered with Kristina Swerhun, to continue long-term alpine monitoring on four summits of Mount Arrowsmith. The aim of the project is to develop a long-term, world-wide data base of standardized observations of alpine biodiversity, vegetation patterns and mountain-top temperatures. Monitoring and data collection takes place every five years to assess any visible changes. Information aims to capture the effects of climate change on these unique alpine ecosystems.

For more information, please contact Jessica.Pyett@viu.ca

Beginning in the fall of 2024, the MABR Climate Change Realities project seeks to explore the multifaceted impacts of climate change within the MABR while fostering a deeper understanding of local perspectives and enhancing capacity for climate action through regional collaboration and knowledge sharing. The goal of the project is to establish a place-based understanding of climate change experiences, perspectives, and impacts in the MABR to elevate climate literacy and collaboration for resiliency and adaptation-focused action. Using qualitative methods, the project will capture the voices of people living in the MABR and develop educational materials and a climate change database to enhance regional climate change literacy and action tailored to the region’s ecological and socio-cultural context. 

For more information, please contact Courtney.Vaugeois@viu.ca

Since 2021, MABRRI has conducted marine debris surveys along beaches within the MABR. The survey approach follows the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) methods for marine debris surveys, as part of their Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project. Through NOAA’s survey methods, rather than solely making sure the MABR’s beaches are clean, we are providing data to an international data base that amalgamates data collection from local beaches into a larger context. The goal of NOAA’s initiative is to utilize data collected from beaches around the world to develop more effective mitigation strategies to prevent the impacts of marine debris. MABRRI will continue to conduct debris surveys four times per year, once each season, spanning across six sites in the MABR.

For more information, please contact Jacob.Frankel@viu.ca

Initiated in 2015, this project was developed in response to a recognized gap in baseline data on wetlands within the region. Between 2015 and 2019, the MABRRI team mapped 42 wetland sites to identify their locations and classify their ecological characteristics. In the fourth and fifth years of the project, instrumentation was installed at several key sites to begin exploring their connection to groundwater recharge—an important step in informing land-use decisions and protecting regional water resources.

Recognizing the value of long-term data, the final year of the original agreement saw a shift toward continued monitoring of instrumented wetland sites along with three instrumentation-free sites recognized for key characteristics. In partnership with Qualicum Beach Stream Keepers, members of the RDN community, and VIU students, five priority sites are now revisited quarterly (April, July, November, January) to observe seasonal changes and collect data. Volunteers play a critical role in these visits, supporting data collection from piezometers, rain gauges, and trail cameras.

The MABRRI team is responsible for analyzing and interpreting the data gathered from these sites, which has been shared with the RDN, and summarized for both public audiences and volunteers. These efforts contribute to more informed planning and policy decisions aimed at protecting the region’s vital wetland ecosystems and watersheds.

For further background on this project, the 2021 Annual Summary Report is available here. 

If you would like to learn more or get involved with this project, please contact Jacob Frankel at Jacob.Frankel@viu.ca.