Species interactions in Garry oak savanna
To better understand how the Garry oak ecosystem will respond to climate change, we are manipulating precipitation in a habitat fragment on Vancouver Island using both rainfall shelters to simulate drought and irrigation to simulate increased rainfall. This experiment allows us to explore some of the underlying mechanisms for how plant communities and species interactions will change with predicted changes in precipitation. We contribute our data to a global network of drought experiments, the International Drought Experiment - Drought-Net.
The Garry oak ecosystem is a highly endangered ecosystem in North America - ranging from Northern California to Southwestern British Columbia - with less than 5% of the historical distribution remaining. This ecosystem was traditionally maintained with fire by Indigenous communities, to facilitate harvesting different species of plants (i.e. common camas) for food. Today, fire suppression, development, and climate change are some of the biggest threats to this system. We work at the Cowichan Preserve, located on the unceded and traditional territory of the Coast Salish Peoples and Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Tribes; the property is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and local volunteers.
Most recently, Lauren Smith (M.Sc. 2021) examined how changes in precipitation may impact herbivorous insect communities through changes in plant productivity and plant diversity (now published here). We have also explored a variety of different species interactions and the role of climate in mediating them, including examining -- the effects of insect herbivores on Garry oak across the range; the long-term outcomes of restoration experiments; and coexistence between two annual native and exotic species. You can read about this work here, here, and here.
The Garry oak ecosystem is a highly endangered ecosystem in North America - ranging from Northern California to Southwestern British Columbia - with less than 5% of the historical distribution remaining. This ecosystem was traditionally maintained with fire by Indigenous communities, to facilitate harvesting different species of plants (i.e. common camas) for food. Today, fire suppression, development, and climate change are some of the biggest threats to this system. We work at the Cowichan Preserve, located on the unceded and traditional territory of the Coast Salish Peoples and Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Tribes; the property is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and local volunteers.
Most recently, Lauren Smith (M.Sc. 2021) examined how changes in precipitation may impact herbivorous insect communities through changes in plant productivity and plant diversity (now published here). We have also explored a variety of different species interactions and the role of climate in mediating them, including examining -- the effects of insect herbivores on Garry oak across the range; the long-term outcomes of restoration experiments; and coexistence between two annual native and exotic species. You can read about this work here, here, and here.