Freshwater Aquatic Ecosystem Representation in British Columbia's Provincial Protected Area System

Abstract

ABSTRACT: A Geographic Information System was used to analyze the protected fraction of river and lake ecosystem types in British Columbia (BC) to inform a more proportionally representative provincial protected areas system. Ecological Aquatic Units of BC (EAUBC) is a system of hierarchically classified rivers and lakes based on physiographic, climatic, and Zoogeographic characteristics. We analyzed the number and area of all 36 Ecological Drainage Units (EDUs), 23 river types (based on 18,100 classified rivers), and 12 lake types (based on 67,484 classified lakes) in BC, and considered each type under- or adequately represented relative to the total province-wide protected area (13.7%). Twenty-three of the 36 EDUs in BC are underrepresented. Coastal river ecosystems have a greater percentage of area protected relative to their total area compared to headwater, mainstem, and tributary systems. Underrepresented river ecosystem types include interior low-relief rivers, especially those in the northeast, an...