BIOMES IN CLAYOQUOT SOUND

"Clayoquot Sound" often evokes images of giant trees in ancient forests, but Clayoquot Sound is actually a mosaic of ecosystems. The region includes a variety of environments from the ocean floor to the temperate rainforest to the alpine tundra.

As moist air moves from the ocean over the land, clouds rise over the coastal mountains. This results in rain, a lot of rain. It is not uncommon for more than 3000 mm (136 inches) of rain to fall each year. This moisture supports a diverse coastal rainforest that is home to over 4500 species of plants and animals. Because these climate conditions are highly localized, temperate rainforests are ecosystems.

Terrestrial BIOMES

• Spruce Fringe forest community
• Cedar-Hemlock forest community
• Climax Rainforest community
• Wooded Bog community
• Stream Banks and Roadside forest communities
• Disturbed forest
• Mountain Hemlock
• Alpine tundra

The rainforests of Clayoquot Sound contain some of the world's largest trees. Dominated by western hemlock, the forests also include western red cedar, amabilis fir, sitka spruce, shore pine, yew, and red alder. Temperate rainforests are renowned for their lush growth of mosses, lichens and ferns.

Coastal bogs are common in this area. They are characterized by highly acidic soils and poor drainage. Certain plants, including the insect-eating sundew, are uniquely adapted to these conditions.

The alpine tundra covers less than 1% of the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve. A small number of specialized plants and animals, including the whit-tailed ptarmigan and yellow glacier lily, live in this harsh habitat.

Fresh Water BIOMES

• Bogs
• Marshes
• Lakes
• Alpine Lakes
• Rivers
• Streams

Like the veins and arteries in a human body, fresh water connects and sustains the ecosystems of the region. Streams, rivers and lakes are vital to a number of species including insects, river otters, kingfishers, and five types of salmon. In the fall, rivers are filled with spawning salmon, which provide food for bears, eagles and other animals. The remains of dead fish are also an important natural fertilizer for the forest.

Intertidal BIOMES

• Rocky Shore - Exposed and Protected
• Cobblestone Shore - Exposed and Protected
• Gravel Beaches - Exposed and Protected
• Exposed Sandy Shore
• Protected Mud Flats

Eelgrass beds and mudflats provide critical habitat for many birds as well as juvenile fish and invertebrates, including dungeness crab.

The beaches and mudflats of Clayoquot Sound provide an important stop for migratory birds. This stopover provides valuable resources needed by the birds to complete their journey.

Marine & Estuarine BIOMES

• Pelagic and nearshore marine ecosystems of the Northeast Pacific Vancouver Island Shelf

From orcas and grey whales feeding off the coast to herring spawning along the shore to tidepools of sea anemones, sea stars and snails, life in the ocean is rich and varied.

Kelp forests and reefs off the coastal shores provide habitat and feeding grounds for fish as well as seals, sea lions and whales. Seabirds such as tufted puffins and rhinoceros auklets feed in these areas as well. Sea otters - a species once on the brink of extinction - have been reintroduced to Vancouver Island and are reestablishing themselves in the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve.

Clayoquot Sound is home to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (Long Beach Unit), sixteen marine and terrestrial Provincial Parks and two Ecological Reserves.