1) What new information or knowledge did you learn from this presentation?

I learned that British Columbia is the richest province/territory in lichen, bryophyte and vascular plant diversity. I also learned that the Ancient Forest/Sugar Bowl Grizzly Den park is a globally unique interior rainforest with a coastal type climate that supports an astonishing level of lichen diversity that is comparable, and sometime actually higher, than world renowned areas of lichen diversity (species #/area) around the globe

2) Are there particular aspects of the presentation you enjoyed or intrigued you and are there others that could have been improved?

I particularly enjoyed seeing the pictures of the various lichens, bryophytes, and vascular plants. Often plants aren’t seen as an “exciting” topic but I thought that Dr. Curtis Bjork did a great job of letting his enthusiasm for the topic generate excitement and curiosity. I also thought that the pictures in his presentation were fantastic. When you can show pictures of cedar and cottonwood trees with trunks as big as a truck they suddenly become fascinating charismatic megaflora. Similarly, when you show a picture of some small obscure bryophyte with a unique mechanism of spore distribution that utilizes wildlife behaviour it suddenly becomes interesting.

While Dr. Curtis Bjork was enthusiastic about his presentation topic and did a great job of incorporating pictures and interesting stories into his presentation I thought that his speaking was a bit monotone and thus, I had a difficult time paying attention at point during his presentation.

3) Are there components of the research that would be applicable or relevant to your own

Master’s research?

I thought it was interesting how Dr. Curtis Bjork identified areas of specialist vegetation vs areas of matrix (dominant plant cover). In my research I am completing a recommended protected areas portfolio using the systematic conservation planning framework and utilizing Marxan ILP for conservation prioritization which allows for conservation targets. My research focuses on building climate change resiliency into the protected areas network in British Columbia. I am using coarse-filter (e.g. enduring features) and fine-filter (e.g. species niche breadths) features. As a coarse-filter surrogate for biodiversity I am using Land facet diversity, which is a compilation of elevation, heat load index, landform and soil diversity. This method is often called “conserving natures stage” and assumes that by conserving the abiotic conditions (stage)that influence patterns of biodiversity, we can protect current and future biodiversity (the actors). Although I have not found any existing geospatial data for spatially minor sites of specialist vegetation I think that these minor occurrences could be beneficial to incorporate as a special feature/ fine-filter target as they can serve as a surrogate for specialist vegetation. Dr. Curtis Bjork mentioned that he could identify these spatially minor sites via air photos/satellite imagery. Thus, with some professional assistance, I believe that this data could be created for my study area (or any study area) and incorporated as a Marxan target.

4) How well did the speaker respond to questions and is there a question you would have asked given the opportunity?

I thought Dr. Curtis Bjork did an excellent job of answering questions. He was obviously extremely competent. If I got to ask a question it would have been regarding his “intuitive controlled wandering” method of data collection. While I do understand that using expert knowledge can improve the efficiency and efficacy of data collection, it also can introduce personal bias. Perhaps there were spatially minor occurrences of specialist vegetation that were not, or could not, be identified via air photos/satellite imagery that were missed because the data collection method was bias towards locations derived from expert knowledge. Wouldn’t it be more methodologically sound to utilize both the “intuitive controlled walking” method in addition to a standard randomized transect method?