page_title: Lynn Canyon Park
section_title: Ecology of Lynn Valley
hierarchical_section_title: Lynn Canyon Park / Ecology of Lynn Valley
caption_attribution_description: English: This is an image of 3 Douglas Firs from the Pacific Northwest city of Marysville Washington
context_page_description: Lynn Canyon Park is a municipal park in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia. When the park officially opened in 1912 it was only 12 acres in size, but it now encompasses 617 acres. The park has many hiking trails of varying length and difficulty. The Baden-Powell Trail passes through the park crossing over the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. Due to its natural landscape many TV series such as Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis used the area for filming.
context_section_description: The ecology of Lynn Valley is quite vast as it expands to the entire North Vancouver area. There are several species of animals that can be found both within the Lynn Canyon Park as well as other surrounding regions such as Horseshoe Bay and the local mountains. Just like the wildlife in the area, the plant and vegetation is highly variable as the altitude of the regions change, however the majority of the vegetation in the area is a strong resemblance of Vancouver's temperate rainforest.
  There is a large range of vegetation that exists in Vancouver's temperate rainforest. This vegetation mostly consists of conifers with scattered pockets of maple and alder, and large areas of swampland which are even found in upland areas, due to poor drainage. The conifers are a typical coastal British Columbia mix of Douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock. The Vancouver area is thought to have the largest trees of these species on the British Columbia Coast.
  The Lynn Valley Forest is over 1000 years old and is a stable and self-replicating. Western hemlock, western red cedar, Sitka spruce, cottonwood, and broad leaf maples grow in moist valley soils. Douglas-fir and western hemlock grow on the well-drained hillsides. During a drought period, the forest becomes prone to spontaneous, natural forest fires that can devastate the region. Large mammals such as bears, wolves and deer easily out distance the fire while smaller mammals often perish. Two years after the fire, sun tolerant plants grow in the disturbed soil. The dead snags provide nutrients for smaller vegetation such as shrubs and small mammals such as shrews. Red-tailed hawks and other birds of prey return to the area to hunt the small mammals.  200–300 years after the fire the forest has reached an early climax stage. It is dominated by Douglas-fir, western hemlock and western red cedar. Birds and mammals such as the spotted owl, northern flying squirrel and Roosevelt elk start to present in the area in increasing numbers. If undisturbed by a major fire, storm or human activity, the forest community will gradually mature. The park is a second growth forest, with the most of the oldest trees being 80–100 years old. Evidence of logging in the area can be also found in the many large stumps, complete with springboard notches.
  There is a multitude of wildlife in the Lynn Canyon area. One of the main concerns for human-animal interactions in the North Vancouver area arises from black bears. Black bears are found in areas such as Lynn Canyon Park but also have been found to travel into residential areas in search of food. More than 1000 bears are killed every year in British Columbia because of bear-human conflicts; the North Shore Black Bear Society published a year end report in 2012 to try to address this issue. Although black bears are common in the Lynn Valley area many of the animals, especially the birds, will tend to migrate to different locations all around North Vancouver and can even be found as far west as Horseshoe Bay.
  Lynn Valley Park offers many animal-watching tours that provide an opportunity for tourists to witness animals such as voles, Douglas squirrels and birds of prey such as the Cooper's hawk. There are also larger animals that live in the area such as black bears and black-tailed deer. However, these animals are not seen on a regular basis by tourists due to the boundaries placed on trails by park officials.
caption: Douglas fir; a common sight at Lynn Canyon Park.
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