In this section you can find videos that illustrate several other land uses and plant-soil interactions that occur on the UBC campus and the University Endowment Lands.
The Plant Indicators and Soil Microorganisms videos were designed to provide further exploration into the below-and above-ground relationships between soil and organisms. While they will offer some details that may be helpful for understanding human impacts to soil properties, they are better suited to provide a better understanding of the soil ecology.
The Construction site and Bog videos will allow you to learn about other types of land uses on the UBC campus and the University Endowment Lands and their impacts to soil. The Bog video also emphasizes importance of topography as a soil formation factor on soil properties and processes.
Bog
Post glaciation an enormous chunk of ice remained in the spot which is today Camosun Bog. As the ice melted slowly, a lake formed around 10,000 years ago. Over the course of time the small lake was filled with plant debris and sediment build-up. Sometime around 5,000 years ago the area transitioned to be a swamp with fast-growing sedges and grasses. Over time the plant matter and low oxygen conditions created an environment prime for the invasion of sphagnum moss. Once sphagnum moss established itself, the buildup of sphagnum began and has been occurring for the last 2,000 years. The moss has maintained the conditions of high water level and low nutrient and oxygen levels characteristic of a bog. With human development of the area, the bog has changed. Early logging operations utilized the bog only minimally for lumber as the soft ground made transport of logs difficult. In the last 80 years have human activity has changed the status of the bog.
(Photo credit: Copepodo at Flickr.com)
Construction Site
The construction site filmed was near the corner of East 16th Avenue on East Mall, on UBC campus. For this site, construction was taking place in order to prepare the land for a sports field. Existing soil and vegetation was removed to make way for the specially prepared sports field. Though topsoil excavated from building sites on UBC campus must be collected and utilized, the increased urban development is disturbing to some. UBC Campus and Vancouver both suffer from the increased pressure to provide urban settings for the growing urban population.
