baumzaehlen - Primeval Forests & Their Trees

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, British Columbia, Canada

This park comprises a narrow strip (290 km ² ) of temperate rainforest on the Pacific coast. The park falls into three parts: The northernmost Long Beach Unit has a few day hikes, the middle one is composed of a number of the islands of Barkley Sound, while the well-known backpacking route West Coast Trail runs through the southernmost unit. If you want to enjoy this trail as a great wilderness experience be careful not to look inland, because the park is so narrow that in many places clearcut is visible between the trees. About midway, the park area widens inland to form the Nitinat Triangle, while a little further south Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park adjoins this park.

The most important tall tree species are Thuja plicata (western redcedar), Tsuga heterophylla (western hemlock), Abies amabilis (pacific silver fir) and Picea sitchensis (Sitka spruce). Tree species diversity is low and most species are easy to identify. The largest tree of Canada by volume, T. plicata tree called Cheewhat Lake Cedar (449 m ³ ), grows here ¹ . Annual precipitation is 2000–3200 mm and average annual temperature approx. 9.5°C . Precipitation is very high from late autumn to early spring; summers are drier (rainfall from June to August 150–300 mm).

“Reserve” in the park’s name indicates that aboriginal land claims have not been settled ² .

References:

1 Van Pelt, R. (2001): Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast. Global Forest Society.

2 Kraulis, J. A. & McNamee, K. (1994): The National Parks of Canada. Key Porter Books.

Official site:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/index.aspx