Blog Post #1
Christmas Hill Sanctuary is situated in a residential area in Victoria, BC. Christmas Hill is 11 hectares in size and 109m above sea level at the summit. Christmas Hill inclines gradually at the lower levels before steepening at higher elevations. The vegetation changes with elevation. Lower levels consist of large Garry Oak and Douglas fir trees surrounded by thick bush. As elevation increases, the thick bush and Douglas Fir trees disappear and are replaced by grass, rock and clumps of small Garry Oak trees.
I visited Christmas Hill on September 30th at 4pm. It was a clear sky, warm sunny day with a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius.
Potential research questions:
Why does the size of Garry Oak trees vary depending on elevation?
Why does the vegetation change from the bottom to the top?
Why do the Garry Oak trees grow in clumps at higher elevations?
