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Carter Street
Foreshore Park
Plant
Survey
Non-Native Vegetation Removal
Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
Industrial Wood Removal
Fish Surveys
Plant
Survey Early this summer, River Works volunteers ventured
out to Carter Foreshore Park to conduct a survey of the wetland
vegetation. As it turns out, the wetlands at Carter Foreshore
Park are home to numerous native species including the blue-listed
Ussurian water-milfoil (Myriophyllum ussuriense) and the
pointed rush (Juncus oxymeris).
Don Benson, a local botanist, created the following list of the
plants of Carter Foreshore Park.
Carter Foreshore
Park Marsh Plants Summer 2001:
| Agrostis
sp. |
Bentgrass |
I |
| Alisma
plantago-aquatica |
Water-plantain |
N |
| Aster
sp. |
Aster (Douglas
aster? |
N |
| Bidens
cernua |
Nodding
beggarticks |
N |
| Callitriche
sp. |
Water-starwort |
N |
| Caltha
palustris ssp. asarifolia |
marsh marigold |
N |
| Cardamine
pratensis |
Cuckoo bitter-cress |
I |
| Carex
lyngbyei |
Lyngby's
sedge |
N |
| Carex
rostrata |
Beaked sedge |
N |
| Cicuta
douglasii |
Douglas'
water-hemlock |
N |
| Deschampsiz
cespitosa |
Tufted hairgrass |
N |
| Eleocharis
palustris? |
Creeping
spikerush |
N |
| Elodea
canadensis |
Canadian
waterweed |
N |
| Epilobium
ciliatum |
Purple-leaved
willowherb |
N |
| Equisetum
fluviatale |
Swamp horsetail |
N |
| Equisetum
palustre |
Marsh horsetail |
N |
| Galium
trifidum |
small bedstraw |
N |
| Glyceria
elata |
Tall mannagrass |
N |
| Hypericum
scouleri |
Western
St. John's-wort |
N |
| Iris
pseudacorus |
Yellow-flag |
I |
| Juncus
articulatus |
Jointed
rush |
N |
| Juncus
balticus |
Baltic rush |
N |
| Juncus
effusus |
Common rush |
N |
| Juncus
oxymeris |
Pointed
rush |
N |
| Lilaeopsis
occidentalis |
Western
lilaeopsis |
N |
| Lycopus
europaeus |
European
horehound |
I |
| Lythrum
salicaria |
Purple loosestrife |
I |
| Mentha
arvensis |
Field mint |
N |
| Mimulus
guttatus |
Yellow monkey
flower |
N |
| Myosotis
scorpioides |
Marsh forget-me-not |
I |
| Myriophyllum
ussuriense |
Ussurian
water-milfoil |
N |
| Oenanthe
sarmentosa |
Pacific
water-parsely |
N |
| Phalaris
arundinacea |
Reed canary
grass |
N |
| Polygonum
amphibium |
Water smartweed |
N |
| Potentilla
anserina ssp. pacifica |
Silverweed |
N |
| Ranunculus
flammula |
Lesser spearwort |
N |
| Rumex
obtusifoluis |
Bitter dock |
I |
| Sagittaria
latifolia |
Watpato,
arrowhead |
N |
| Scirpus
cyperinus |
Wool-grass |
N |
| Scirpus
lacustris |
Tule (bulrush) |
N |
| Sium
suave |
Water-parsnip |
N |
| Sparganium
emersum (simplex) |
Emersed
bur-reed |
N |
| Tillaea
aquatica |
Pigmy-weed |
N |
| Trifolium
pratense |
Red clover |
I |
| Trifolium
wormskjoldii |
Springbank
clover |
N |
| Typha
latifolia |
Cattail |
N |
| Veronica
beccabunga ssp. americana? |
American
brooklime |
N |
I=introduced
N=native
Expected but
not found or overlooked: skunk cabbage, western dock, white rein
orchid, and Henderson's checker mallow.
Blue-listed plants:
Ussurian water-milfoil, pointed rush.
Total
marsh plants 46.
Introduced 8.
Native 38.
Introduced plants as a percentage of total 17 %.
A close-up
of the invasive plant species purple loosestrife.
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Non-Native
Vegetation Removal
In
July, Vancouver Aquarium volunteers were joined by the B.C. Hydro
Power Smart Youth Team, for a massive day of purple loosestrife
(Lythrum salicera) removal. In total 12 bags of this invasive
plant species was removed.
Great
Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up
The River
Works truck, full of trash! |
September 2001
marked the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up. Two hundred students
from Queen Elizabeth Elementary in New Westminster pitched and
cleaned up the Fraser River's South Arm. Three hundred meters
of shoreline were cleaned, and an incredible 240 kgs. of trash
removed!
Industrial
Wood Removal
In addition to the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up, 200 students
from Queen Elizabeth Elementary also took part in removing industrial
wood from Carter Foreshore Park. A total of 7,580 kgs of wood
were removed.
Fish
Surveys
A group of dedicated Vancouver Aquarium volunteers have committed
themselves to early Sunday mornings of rain and mud. This hardworking
team is continuing the baseline data collection that the Vancouver
Aquarium Marine Science Centre's Waterway Enhancement Team began
in the summer of 2001. This data will be vital in assessing changes
in the health of the Fraser River Estuary over a long term basis.
Water Quality Testing A group of dedicated Vancouver Aquarium
volunteers have committed themselves to early Sunday mornings
of rain and mud. This hardworking team is continuing the baseline
data collection that the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre's
Waterway Enhancement Team began in the summer of 2001. This data
will be vital in assessing changes in the health of the Fraser
River Estuary over a long term basis. To
see the results click here.
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