The scale of ecological restoration: restoring steelhead habitat in the Oktwanch Watershed, Vancouver Island, B.C.
Heckels, Alexander Robert Lee Greene (author) Ives, Kim (thesis advisor) Henault, Lisa (committee member) British Columbia Institute of Technology School of Construction and the Environment (Degree granting institution) Simon Fraser University Faculty of Environment (Degree granting institution)
Dissertation/thesis
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British Columbia Institute of Technology
2022
65 pages
Forestry practices are thought to be the major cause of degraded salmonid habitat and declining steelhead populations in the Oktwanch River on Vancouver Island. Large woody debris installations and channel modifications were completed in Reach 1 of the Oktwanch River and adjacent side channels in 2001 to provide spawning and rearing habitat for multiple salmonid species and prevent further degradation, but were ultimately unsuccessful. This study investigated if watershed-scale restoration, rather than reach-scale, is necessary to restore this habitat for steelhead in the Oktwanch River indefinitely. This was achieved through an assessment of fish habitat in Reach 1 of the Oktwanch River and adjacent side channels and spatial analysis of the Oktwanch watershed using Landsat historical aerial imagery and i-Tree Canopy. The findings from this study suggest watershed-scale changes to forestry practices are required to restore steelhead populations in the Oktwanch River.
forestry practices watershed-scale restoration reach-scale woody debris installations channel modifications
Fishes -- Habitat -- Conservation Forest ecology Salmon Salmonidae Steelhead (Fish) Stream ecology
Ecological Restoration Program
electronic
Vancouver Island (B.C.)
Master of Science