Plant Survivability
This summer Vancouver Aquarium volunteers assessed the health of the plants from the spring planting project. The Jack Pine were in excellent condition! The deciduous plants were a little wilted from the summer heat, but the majority of plants were doing well.

Debris Surveys
Debris surveys are conducted before and after cleanups to measure the impact our work is having on the environment. Wow! What a difference between before and after the spring clean up! Wood debris was decreased by 5% allowing the marsh vegetation to flourish and increase by 15%.



Vegetation Surveys
Carrying out a vegetation survey is not a straightforward job, but this summer a small group of volunteers headed down to the marsh and identified the plants at Iona Beach. Artic rush was the dominant plant at this site. We also saw lots of pacific silverweed in flower. Plants in the other category included sage, yarrow, thistle, great sundew, purple loosestrife, dandelions, sandwort, and sedges.

Invertebrate Surveys
We have begun a new project this fall - invertebrate surveys. Invertebrates can be used as an indicator of water quality, thus giving us another means to measure the condition of the Fraser River. The diversity of invertebrate species was low, attributed to the cold November temperature when the survey was done. Amphipods, invertebrates that are somewhat tolerant to pollution, were by far the most dominant.