On Sept, 14, 2018, D. Bjork undertook to impart his knowledge of flora in the Robson Valley during the Graduate Colloquium. During his presentation entitled “Tiny lichen to giant trees: An inventory of the Robson Valley flora,” Dr. Bjork mentioned two sites which he listed as having special biological status: cottonwood drip zones and puddle forests. This surprised me because I have run across similar sites to these and thought nothing of them at the time. In the future I will pay more attention them when I find them.
One aspect of Dr. Bjork’s methodology that I enjoyed hearing about was his “Controlled Intuitive Wander” method of locating sites in the field. Many of us will be forced to carry out systematic unbiased samples in our research, so it was nice to see a different yet still valid method of identifying potentially rare flora sites. In addition, the information was well presented with colorful and informative slides.
While the presentation seemed to be missing a standard ‘road map’, I think that the message the speaker was trying to get across was successfully delivered. This success was likely due to his knowledge and enthusiasm related to the subject matter and also to the basic and logical flow of his presentation. He successfully informed us that rare lichens, bryophytes and vascular plants are present in the Robson Valley study area, that the biodiversity in the area is very high, and that it may indeed exceed known and more renowned biodiversity hotspots in other parts of the world.
A part of Dr. Bjork’s methodology that I will likely incorporate into my own research is the way he seems to have gained significant and thorough personal knowledge of his study area. This may be just the way that lichen scientist must go about their business due to the size of their subject matter, but I believe that a key part of forest research management is getting a personal feel for the area you are focused on and the best way to do this is to walk the ground. Remote sensing information is important, as are fuel loading sample plots, but actually getting into the study area; tripping over the duff layer, getting poked in the face by the ladder fuels and feeling the moisture content in the fine fuels with your bare hands will allow a wildfire researcher to build their own intuitive or experiential ‘dataset’ related to the land base. Dr. Bjork demonstrated a deep knowledge and enthusiasm toward the McBride Valley and I think this really makes an impact in presenting research.
In my case I won’t be hunting for rock outcrops, but I will be getting a feel for what’s on the ground and for the forest fuels as they occur at both the site and landscape level. Lidar looks great in a slideshow, but when you speak with locals who know the area, first-hand knowledge will add significant weight to your results and recommendations for management.