Today class we will be learning about a Day in the life of a classroom just like us in the Pacific Maritime Terrestrial ecozone.

Once upon a time...

There was a classroom located in the pacific maritime with a large group of diverse students. There were mammals like bears, white-tailed deer, and mountain lions. Birds like the black oystercatcher, quails, tuffed puffin and bald eagles.

A keystone species in the pacific

maritime are wolves As they prey

on herbivores which

regulates the prey's population

and consequently the amount of

grass. the absence of wolves

will result in overpopulation and

cause organisms that depend

on grass to go extinct

because the competition is far

to much.

Other keystone animals in the pacific maritime are the grizzly bears and the beavers. Grizzly bears are keystone animals because they control the salmon population and regulate life in the aquatic ecosystem. without them there would be an overpopulated group of salmon that wIll cause the seaweed to be unwieldy. Also grizzly bears are gardeners and without them soil would not be as fertilized or aerated which would result in less trees.

The Beavers' dams provide species like salmon with a suitable habitat and allow other animals near drinking water which is a basic need. Without beavers many animals may go extinct or starve.

Thankfully all of these 3 organisms are still prominent in the Pacific Maritime.

But slowly and surely as human's greed increased many species decreased and the beloved Pacific maritime ecozone was falling apart.

Which meant that less and less children showed up to class. Animals like the marbled market, queen charlotte goshawk, pacific great blue heron and short eared owl were disappearing.

Soon only keystone animals attended class.

They began their day with current events

Attention class. Let’s quiet down so we can hear Moose’s current events presentation.

Please begin when you are ready

What is currently happening in our community is a drastic decline in our diverse populations due to the ongoing battle with humans. More humans have migrated to the area of British Columbia which has been one of the main events that caused a higher demand in living areas. This process has essentially caused Urbanization. in order to meet the increasing demand they must build living spaces for humans which means less space for us. Urbanization has resulted in a loss of food sources, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation. As the construction of these living areas will increase air pollution and thereby contribute to climate change and its extreme weather patterns. Since urbanization increases the chance of flash flooding the pacific maritime would suffer because of its increased probability and longevity due to British Columbia's weather patterns . Finally, Urbanization will put human stress on the organisms as it will expose the ones in the area to many poisons and pesticides that may result in death or harm.

secondly, habitat Fragmentation is a result of many human activities including urbanization in Brtisih Columbia. Essentially, it is the process of a habitat breaking into smaller or separate parts., and it is one of the leading threats for terrestrial animals. Habitat fragmentation is not only breaking our habitats apart, but also our close bonds to each other. Since it will lead to competition amongst us because of the limited resources. Fragmentation also influences pollination dynamics which will lead to shortages of vegetation, thereby causing a shortage of animals in the area and therefore altering the food web entirely.

To not help matters now more than ever their economy has become dependent on the forest industry. As deforestation increases the humans continue to thrive while we die. Our beautiful organisms in kingdom plantae such as the western red and yellow cedar, western hemlock, douglas fir, mountain hemlock, amabilis fir, sitka spruce, and alder are suffering the consequences. Recently, the humans have used the clear-cutting method more frequently which has caused a drastic decrease in plants, vegetation, and our habitats. If this method doesn't kill us right away we are forced to leave and will either die from having no place to hide or starvation due to the shift in the food chain, lack of vegetation, and water. Deforestation also results in soil erosion which wears away the most fertile parts of the soil and degrades the leftover nutrients . Deforestation indirectly causes habitat loss by resulting in desertification which is the process of fertile lands becoming deserts and by increasing greenhouse gas emissions . With its direct and indirect impact on habitat we have not chance of survival if it continues at the rate it's going.

Unfortunately the oil and gas industry is still prevalent on the west coast making our lives trivial in comparison. The transportation of the oil leads to many spills ergo they are fairly frequent in British Columbia for example in 2018 there was about 600 oil spills. These spill are extremely dangerous to animals because oil contain many chemicals that are poisonous, and the oil can smother small species of fish and invertebrates which will again negatively alter the food web. The oil also destroys fury mammals insulating abilities and because the climate has intense heat and rain patterns they could die from hypothermia or endure heat stress. Finally, the process of extracting oil and creating oil sands to produce petroleum products is lethal to the organisms of the pacific maritime. Not only must they destroy habitat to create them but extracting them contributes to climate change due to the excess greenhouse gas emissions .

Speaking of oil I must also address the controversial trans mountain pipeline. This pipeline is intentionally going through our environment for new revenue but is ignoring all of the negative consequences. The pipeline will increase the chance of tanker spills which is already so recurrent in Bristish Columbia. It will destroy the salmon habitat and therefore cause the bear population to suffer from a lack of food resources. Also it will increase green house gas emissions, deforestation, and tar extraction. During these extractions bear and wolves that wander near it will be shot or poisoned. Another animal that will have to suffer because of this pipeline will be the Caribous as it is predicted that they may go extinct in the next 30 years. overall, this pipeline is just another way humans are showing that money is more important than us.

Their economy is also dependent on mining which causes a lot of habitat destruction . mining also contaminates surface water, groundwater, and soil which decreases the food sources that are available to us. It causes a loss in biodiversity and fertile soil while polluting the air and water. Lastly, Mining also triggers sinkholes which is extremely dangerous and destroys more of the environment. Therefore, mining is another way for humans placing importance on material wealth as opposed to the environment. However, when you look at the bigger picture, all of these humans activities relate back to climate change. The abnormal variations of climate in a area like Britsih Columbia will be detrimental to all living and non-living things. For now, climate change has caused a loss of many critical species and shifted biological events while impairing water quality and movement. Climate change also supports the spread of diseases and causes natural disasters like the wildfire near Fort St. John.

Mr. Owl tried to calm the class down after that heartbreaking current events but was at a lost of words. he too was scared since his friends the short eared owl and the northern spotted owl were endangered. Thus as he reassured the children, he too longed for reassurance that he may never obtain.

Please everyone i understand this is difficult but try and settle down. During this time in our community all we can do is try to stay strong, stay together, and most importantly beware of the humans

The population of all organisms continued to decrease which meant fewer and fewer organisms went to class

Until there was no one at all.

So How did everyone find the story?

That was so sad

Ms.Hazzard, what is our government doing about this?

I want

my mom