News/Reports

RAM CREEK ER #26 Overview: Biological and Physical

Posted January 15, 2000 | Categories : 26,Rare Species,Species List |

RAM CREEK ER #26
ORIGINAL PURPOSE Protection of warmsprings and very restricted plant communities and
rare plants against recreational and other damage

Se the complete PDF: Ram Creek ER 26
OVERVIEW
Date established:29 July 1971
ORC #:3026
Map number:82 J/4

Location:20 km SE of Canal Flats
Latitude:50º02’N
Longitude:115º36’W
Total Area:121 ha
Land:121 ha

Elevation: 1,370-1,615 m
Access: Access from Highway 95 via the Ram Creek Forest Service
Road, which passes through the ER.
Biogeoclimatic Zones:Montane Spruce (MS)
Biogeoclimatic Variant:MSdk Dry Cool
Ecosection:Southern Park Ranges
Region:Kootenay
Management Area:Purcell Lussier

COMPOSITION
Physical: A major feature of this reserve is its natural warmspring, located in Ram
Creek valley near the confluence of Marmalade Creek. The reserve is located
on the west side of the Hughes Range, a north-south series of jagged peaks
reaching 2500 m in height. It straddles Ram Creek which flows westward to
join the Lussier River. Soils are largely Brunisols on colluvial and morainal
deposits derived from calcareous parent materials.
Biological: The most unique vegetation is immediately surrounding the warmsprings and
along streamsides below the springs. It tends to develop much earlier in the
spring than other vegetation only a few metres away, to be very lush, and to
contain species that, in this region, are only able to survive in this unusually
warm environment. Common plants in the herbaceous community at the
hotsprings are poison ivy, bluegrasses, and field mint. Also present are white
geranium, Kalm’s lobelia, Canadian butterweed, leafy aster, slender rush, and
the rare sedge Carex crawei.
A variety of trees is present but Douglas-fir and/or lodgepole pine are
dominant in most areas. Douglas-fir-trembling aspen stands in which
common juniper, kinnikinnick, and pinegrass characterize the understory,
occur on dry south-facing slopes, while lodgepole pine -Douglas-fir woods
with understory dominants like birch-leaved spirea, soopolallie, and pinegrass
occur on morainal material. Moist valley bottoms and north-facing slopes
support mixed Douglas-fir-Engelmann spruce-western larch stands.
Much of the ER was burned over by wildfire in the mid 1980s. Parts of
the ER have a history of forest harvesting with old skid trails and roads
still evident. Mule Deer, White-Tailed Deer, Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, and their
predators, including Wolf, inhabit this area. Birds noted include kinglets, Fox
and Chipping Sparrows, juncos, chickadees, nuthatches, Winter Wrens,
Varied Thrushes and Ruffed Grouse.
MANAGEMENT CONCERNS
SIGNIFICANT SPECIES Vivid Dancer
BC LIST STATUS
Red listed
COSEWIC STATUS CF PRIORITY:2

THREATS
Climate Change: Projected changes in temperature, hydrology and subsequent shifts
in the distribution and range of various species may pose a threat to
the rare and restricted plant communities protected in this reserve.
Access: Access to warmsprings threatens red-listed species (Vivid dancers).
However, the road culvert feeds much of the habitat needed for the
dragonfly.
The old access road has been deactivated due to Beaver activity.
Currently access is via the Ram Creek Forest Service Road which is
deteriorating and may be deactivated in the future below the ER.
This would limit, but likely not eliminate, access by vehicles.
Recreation: Regular use of clearing as a camping site severely effects the
ecosystem due to ATV use, fire damage, defecation and other forms
of pollution, and results in trampling of vegetation in and around
the warmsprings.
The pools were modified prior to designation as an ER, but
continued disturbance of the flow of warm water is impacting
natural processes.
SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF SPECIES MENTIONED IN THE RAM CREEK ER ACCOUNT
Flora
aspen, trembling (Populus tremuloides)
aster, leafy (Aster foliaceus)
bluegrass (Poa spp.)
butterweed, Canadian (Senecio pauperculus)
Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca)
geranium, white (Geranium richardsonii)
juniper, common (Juniperus communis)
kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
larch, western (Larix occidentalis)
lobelia, Kalm’s (Lobelia kalmii)
mint, field (Mentha arvensis)
pine, lodgepole (Pinus contorta var. latifolia)
pinegrass (Calamagrostis rubescens
poison ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii)
rush, slender (Juncus tenuis)
sedge, Crawe’s (Carex crawei)
soopolallie (Shepherdia canadensis)
spirea, birch-leaved (Spiraea betulifolia ssp. lucida)
spruce, Engelmann (Picea engelmannii)
Fauna
Chickadee (Poecile spp.)
Deer, Mule (Odocoileus hemionus)
Deer, White-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus)
Elk (Cervus Canadensis)
Grouse, Ruffed (Bonasa umbellus)
Junco, Dark-eyed (Junco hyemalis)
Kinglet (Regulus sp.)
Moose (Alces americanus)
Nuthatch (Sitta spp.)
Sheep, Bighorn (Ovis canadensis)
Sparrow, Chipping (Spizella passerina)
Sparrow, Fox (Passerella iliaca)
Thrush, Varied (Ixoreus naevius)
Vivid Dancer (Argia vivida)
Wolf, Grey (Canis lupus)
Wren, Winter (Troglodytes troglodytes)