blog post 1

I chose an area to observe behind my house that is located near the Elk River in Fernie, BC. It is a flat walking path that takes you beside the river, into a forested area beside the river. it is located in on a valley bottom surrounding mountains. The area of land is around 10 acres. There is a man made lake that drains the over flow of water from the river into it. On this lake there is a massive beaver damn, with about 5 beavers living in it. So in these 10 acres, there is a flat grassland area, river ecosystem and a forested area with many large trees and shrubs. Animals that I have noticed are ground mice, beavers, bears, deer, moose and many different species of birds.

On the day I observed the area it was noon and it was around 2 degrees Celsius. A fall cloudy and muddy day, you can see snow accumulating on the mountain tops. I picked this area because it is easy for me to get too while having a mix of different wildlife and plants within it. The questions I had thought of while I was there were,

1. Are beavers an invasive species? are they disrupting the ecosystem or contributing to it. there are so many trees fallen along the banks of the river and lake because of them. How is this going to change the layout of the river?
2. What are the effects of building houses in an area by the river? There is construction happening near this area and how is it going to effect wild life?
3. How is climate change affecting the elk river? There is higher selenium levels from the local mine in the river that affects us humans, but does it affect the wildlife in the river?