BCAA

Fall 2013

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landmarks The Shrinking Lake by Kerry Banks >> photography by Paul Colangelo Stanley Park's Beaver Lake is dying. Even more alarmingly, unless serious measures are undertaken it will likely vanish entirely within 10 years. The watershed within the historic 400-hectare Vancouver park, home to herons, ducks, songbirds, turtles, frogs and stickleback — as well as cutthroat trout and coho salmon in its tributaries — is threatened by invasive plants. Namely, the explosive growth of Chinese water lilies imported from Europe in 1936 and two other invaders, the yellow flag irises and purple loosestrife that have been strangling the lake by cutting its supply of oxygen and filling the bottom with 46 W e s t w o r l d p46-47_Landmarks.indd 46 >> sediment. In 1938, Beaver Lake covered 6.7 hectares; today, the figure is 3.9 hectares and at its deepest the water measures just a metre. Finding a solution will not be simple. In 2010, the Vancouver Park Board approved a $100,000 environ mental assessment of the shrinking wetland, the first step in what many expect to be a major dredging project. And race against time. Events: The Stanley Park Ecology Society hosts Beaver Lake nature walks. Check website for dates, plus ways to support the society's conservation efforts. ℹ stanleyparkecology.ca fa l l 2 0 1 3 13-08-19 1:23 PM

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