Brookswood/Fernridge Wildlife Monitoring Program

The objectives of this program are to document habitat most frequently used by focal species, to map habitat patches and corridors used by focal species, to monitor how focal species adapt to an urban environment, to identify trends over time, to encourage community members to provide wildlife habitat in their yard, and to encourage municipal policies that will conserve wildlife habitat patches and corridors.

The Brookswood/Fernridge neighbourhood was chosen for this program because:

• this neighbourhood has the highest percentage of coniferous forest of any neighbourhood in the Township of Langley
• the Brookswood/Fernridge area is expected to undergo a community plan review in the next five years
• residents' water comes from the highly vulnerable Brookswood aquifer
• 122 confirmed wildlife species including 9 Red or Blue-listed species
• the area has habitat connectivity to adjacent agricultural areas and municipal and regional parks

Boundaries

The Brookswood/Fernridge neighbourhood is located in the southwest corner of the Township of Langley. The boundaries are roughly 44 avenue to the north, 210 street to the east, 196 street to the west, and 20 avenue to the south. This community contains 37.5% of all of the coniferous forest in the Township of Langley.

The Focal Species Approach

Volunteers participating in the Urban Wildlife Monitoring Program are asked to record sightings and observed behaviours of four "focal species". The focal species approach uses a suite of species to assess and monitor ecosystem function and habitat attributes. Each species is used to define different spatial and compositional attributes that must be present in the landscape for that species to survive.

The Focal Species Selection

The species chosen for the Brookswood/Fernridge Urban Wildlife Monitoring Program are listed below. To learn more about each species please click on the name.

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Douglas Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii)

Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus ssp. columbianus)

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

Program Results

In February of 2008, the first monitoring session took place. All of the focal species were sighted in the neighbourhood. Black-tailed Deer were sighted 23 out of 29 days and at 4 different locations. Pileated Woodpeckers were sited at 16 different locations, Douglas Squirrels were sighted at 17 different locations, and Wood Ducks at 1 location. A map of the results from the first monitoring session can be seen here.

A toolkit is being developed to assist other municipalities and organizations to develop wildlife monitoring programs in their areas. To view the first chapter of the Urban Wildlife Monitoring Toolkit click here.

LEPS WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THIS PROGRAM!

The next monitoring session is scheduled to start October 15, 2009. For information or to participate in this program contact the Wildlife Program Coordinator at 604-532-3513 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it