Thesis (Ph. D.)--Simon Fraser University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-374).

Early land survey records can be used to reconstruct the historical distribution and abundance of tree species prior to the large-scale impact of industrialized societies. Comparing these records to current vegetation patterns enables an examination of the shifts that have occurred in plant communities since the arrival of European settlers in North America. I used presettlement (1859-1874) land survey records from southeastern Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada to reconstruct the relative abundance and density of tree species in these areas. I then collected equivalent vegetation data from the same points in the modern landscape, which enabled me to compare the two points in time and identify the changes in large-scale vegetation patterns that have occurred since European settlement. My results show a significant increase in the relative abundance of maple (Acer macrophyllum) and cedar (Thuja plicata), and a corresponding decrease in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzeisii). Furthermore, there has been a considerable increase in tree density in undeveloped areas. The 1859 records indicate that at least one third of the land surveyed was made up of prairies or open “plains,” while a combination of open woods and forests made up the remaining two thirds. Based on comparable density measures from 2007, prairies and plains now represent less than 5% of the undeveloped landscape, while forests comprise nearly 90%. These changes are likely due to a combination of factors that have been influenced by European settlement, most notably logging and fire suppression. The suppression of fire has led to an infilling of trees into previously open areas and has led to the rapid decline of the open prairie and savanna habitat types once common in this area. The results of this study can inform conservation efforts throughout the study area, particularly those involving the restoration of prairie or savanna habitats.

Early land survey records can be used to reconstruct the historical distribution and abundance of tree species prior to the large-scale impact of industrialized societies. Comparing these records to current vegetation patterns enables an examination of the shifts that have occurred in plant communities since the arrival of European settlers in North America. I used presettlement (1859-1874) land survey records from southeastern Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada to reconstruct the relative abundance and density of tree species in these areas. I then collected equivalent vegetation data from the same points in the modern landscape, which enabled me to compare the two points in time and identify the changes in large-scale vegetation patterns that have occurred since European settlement. My results show a significant increase in the relative abundance of maple (Acer macrophyllum) and cedar (Thuja plicata), and a corresponding decrease in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzeisii). Furthermore, there has been a considerable increase in tree density in undeveloped areas. The 1859 records indicate that at least one third of the land surveyed was made up of prairies or open “plains,” while a combination of open woods and forests made up the remaining two thirds. Based on comparable density measures from 2007, prairies and plains now represent less than 5% of the undeveloped landscape, while forests comprise nearly 90%. These changes are likely due to a combination of factors that have been influenced by European settlement, most notably logging and fire suppression. The suppression of fire has led to an infilling of trees into previously open areas and has led to the rapid decline of the open prairie and savanna habitat types once common in this area. The results of this study can inform conservation efforts throughout the study area, particularly those involving the restoration of prairie or savanna habitats.

In the spring of 2005, a Vancouver Island Health Authority Inspector tried to stop the sale of ungraded eggs at the Saltspring Island Farmers' Market. This event, and the actions that followed, came to be known as the "Saltspring Island egg wars." Using the egg wars as a starting point, I explore the inner workings and contradictions of the egg sector in British Columbia by asking the question "how is it that food grown locally in sustainable ways is seen to be less safe by regulatory food regimes than food produced in the industrial food system?" To do this I take up the standpoint of egg farmers who "farm otherwise." From this grounding I rely on the insights of these farmers, civil servants, and social theorists Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault and Dorothy Smith to understand the ordering of power, knowledge and the social in relationships between sustainable egg producers and the British Columbia egg scheme.

During World War Two, 77 Japanese Canadians were uprooted from Saltspring Island, and eleven properties were taken from them and later liquidated. The largest belonged to Torazo Iwasaki, and was purchased by the agent for the Custodian of Enemy Property, Gavin Mouat. In contradiction to the widely held view that Japanese Canadians were stoic and accepting of the injustice they faced, a number of Japanese Canadian Saltspringers fiercely resisted what was being done to them. The Iwasaki family launched a court case against the government in 1967 that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and in the face of continued racism the Murakami family returned to Saltspring to rebuild their lives. This thesis investigates the position of the Japanese Canadians in the settler society on Saltspring and how racisms were manifested within it, the government’s decision to liquidate Japanese Canadian properties, and the resistance and resilience of some of the island’s Japanese Canadians. Racist politicians, including the MLA representing the island, were calling for the removal of Japanese Canadians from the west coast. They led the drive to ethnically cleanse British Columbia, but their success depended on the cooperation and acquiescence of many others. This microhistory explains how this process took place on Saltspring Island, while examining the larger story of the decision to liquidate and challenging the legality of the government’s actions. Seventy-five years after the uprooting, a frank acknowledgment of past injustices will be necessary for the full reconciliation of Japanese Canadian survivors and the Saltspring community. / Graduate / 2019-03-26 / 0334 0631

Early land survey records can be used to reconstruct the historical distribution and abundance of tree species prior to the large-scale impact of industrialized societies. Comparing these records to current vegetation patterns enables an examination of the shifts that have occurred in plant communities since the arrival of European settlers in North America. I used presettlement (1859-1874) land survey records from southeastern Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada to reconstruct the relative abundance and density of tree species in these areas. I then collected equivalent vegetation data from the same points in the modern landscape, which enabled me to compare the two points in time and identify the changes in large-scale vegetation patterns that have occurred since European settlement. My results show a significant increase in the relative abundance of maple (Acer macrophyllum) and cedar (Thuja plicata), and a corresponding decrease in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzeisii). Furthermore, there has been a considerable increase in tree density in undeveloped areas. The 1859 records indicate that at least one third of the land surveyed was made up of prairies or open “plains,” while a combination of open woods and forests made up the remaining two thirds. Based on comparable density measures from 2007, prairies and plains now represent less than 5% of the undeveloped landscape, while forests comprise nearly 90%. These changes are likely due to a combination of factors that have been influenced by European settlement, most notably logging and fire suppression. The suppression of fire has led to an infilling of trees into previously open areas and has led to the rapid decline of the open prairie and savanna habitat types once common in this area. The results of this study can inform conservation efforts throughout the study area, particularly those involving the restoration of prairie or savanna habitats. / Science, Faculty of / Botany, Department of / Graduate

Fossil midge remains from a sediment core from Lake Stowell, Saltspring Island (48°46’54”N, 123°26’38”W) were used to produce quantitative estimates of mean July air temperature over the last 14,000 years. Chironomid and Chaoborus remains were identified, and multiple models of past temperatures based on transfer functions of northern North American calibration datasets were evaluated. The selected model was used to create the first quantitative paleotemperature estimates for the Gulf Islands region. Inferred paleotemperatures at Lake Stowell varied between 12.1 °C and 18.6 °C over the last 14,000 calendar years. Several major climate phases were identified based on changes in paleotemperature. The base of the record is characterised by a cool lateglacial interval with a minimum inferred July temperature of 12.1 °C. Inferred temperatures generally increased by ~4 °C between ~14,200 and 10,300 cal yr BP but this warming was interrupted by cooling, coincident with the Younger Dryas Chronozone, when inferred temperatures drop ~2 °C from the temperatures immediately preceding this interval. A warm early Holocene extends from ~10,300 to 8100 cal yr BP with temperatures regularly exceeding 16 °C. Following the early Holocene, inferred temperatures decreased to approximately 14.9 °C in the mid-Holocene. After a brief warm peak in the late Holocene, inferred temperatures cooled towards the present. Inferred changes in paleotemperature from Lake Stowell are consistent with other paleoenvironmental studies conducted in southern British Columbia and throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. Temperature changes at Lake Stowell are muted in comparison to continental sites, which may be due to the influence of marine conditions. This research provides context for other studies in the region, and contributes to our understanding of environmental change since the last glacial maximum. / Graduate / 2017-08-17 / 0426 / 0793 / 0353 / jillian.lemmen@gmail.com