The Lower North Thompson Community Forest Society’s main license area is shown below in red. It can be accessed three ways:

East of Barriere along Barriere Lakes Road then the South Lake Forest Service Road(FSR)

or

South of Barriere along Agate Bay Road then the Dixon or Minova FSR’s

Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC)

The Community Forest is currently situated in the Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) ( green) and the Interior Douglas-fir (IDF) (yellow) BEC zones. BEC classification relies on information about the topography, climate, soils, and plant species growing in specific regions- using these indicators one can determine which subzone they are in. To learn more about the BEC system click here.

The main trees species in the ICH are:

• western redcedar (Thuja plicata)
• western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
• Paper Birch (Betula papyifera)
• Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
• hybrid spruce (Picea engelmannii x glauca)
• Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) and
• lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta).

The ICH zone is dubbed the “Interior Rain forest” and is the most productive zone in the interior with very good species diversity.

The main tree species found in the IDF are:

• Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
• hybrid spruce (Picea engelmannii x glauca)
• Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) and
• lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta).

The IDF is most notably identified by the various grass species in the understory. This is the second warmest forest zone in interior BC. This is an important habitat for mule deer as their winter range is found within the IDF whose denser canopy provides snow interception and thermal insulation.

At higher elevations these zones transition into the Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir (ESSF) zone (purple). Other tree species which occur in the Community forest include Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), western white pine (Pinus monticola), rocky mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) and Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa). To learn more about BC’s tree species click here.

The maps below were created using the web version of the ClimateBC model created by the Center for Forest Conservation Genetics (CFCG) based out of UBC.

Current BEC Zones (Source: ClimateBC) Colour code: ICH = green, IDF = yellow, MS = pink, ESSF = purple

Climate Change and the Community Forest

Using the models provided in ClimateBC, a projection can be made for what the climate could be like in the future and therefore where the associated BEC zone may shift. The map below shows the projection for 2050 in the LNTCFS area. The prediction shows an increase in the area classified as IDF with the ICH moving up in elevation and decreasing in area. This is due to predictions that indicate increases in mean annual temperature and decreases in mean annual precipitation.

Projected BEC Zones 2050 (Source: ClimateBC) Colour code: IDF = yellow, ICH = green, ESSF = purple, MS = pink, PP = orange