Nurse logs are a hallmark of the old-growth forest, where the slow death of ancient trees is the mechanism of forest renewal and rebirth — not only do they support the new growth of trees, they also a range of rainforest creatures.
Devil’s club is one of the most dreaded banes of the coastal bushwhacker. Towering to over 16 feet (5 metres) high, this plant sports huge, maple-esque leaves and wicked spines coated in irritating oils.
Deer fern is abundant in the coastal rainforest. Read on to learn more about these special rainforest dwellers.
A sure sign of spring on the west coast is the emergence of the spectacular western skunk cabbage.
The red-legged frog is a beautiful and secretive inhabitant of the coastal rainforest.
Among the myriad lichens that adorn and encrust the coastal rainforest, few are as striking as Icmadophila ericetorum. This mint-green carpet speckled with tiny pink globes is known as “peppermint drop lichen” or “candy lichen” to some, but in British Columbia, most prefer the evocative nickname “fairy puke lichen” to capture its unique blend of the sickly and the fanciful.
Lobaria lichens play a crucial role in forest ecology. They are able to accomplish the rare feat of fixing atmospheric nitrogen—an essential nutrient for plant growth, though almost no organisms are able to extract it from the air. These lichens mine this precious nutrient from the atmosphere and when they fall to the forest floor and decay, that nitrogen is made available to the entire ecosystem.
The licorice fern is a dainty forest dweller primarily found growing on mossy rock faces and the trunks and mossy branches of old-growth trees, sometimes hundreds of feet above the ground in the forest canopy.
Slime molds are among the oddest creatures of the rainforest. These frequently brightly coloured organisms represent an interphase between the multicellular bodies of plants and animals and the unicellular world of amoebas and other protists.
Rather than make its food through photosynthesis, carnivorous sundews, like the ones seen here, supplement their diet by feeding on insects! The tiny tentacles have a sticky dew or “mucilage” on them to help trap and digest their prey for a hearty meal. Known by the Haida First Nation as “many hearts,” the sundew is […]
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