🗨️ “We need to recognize drift logs as a significant ecological disturbance...It’s critical that we begin reducing the number of drift logs added to the marine environment and begin introducing conservation measures to protect organisms in the intertidal zone.”

- Tom Reimchen, UVic biologist

Why does this matter? Many shorebird species rely on the rocky intertidal zones for food, and researchers speculate that the loss of barnacle beds and interstitial invertebrates has contributed to the decline of shorebird populations. Since 1970, there as been a 50% drop in some of the shorebirds.

Reimchen found that populations of barnacles are 20-80% lower on surfaces that are exposed to logs vs. protected crevices. The spaces between barnacles, which support a variety of small invertebrates, are negatively impacted as well.

More than 90% of drift logs are displaced annually, and log movement during storms is frequent and extensive. This movement disrupts the ecological environment in the intertidal zone. How, exactly?

This lack of monitoring has created the worst data gap for these stocks in 70 years, and makes it difficult for scientists to assess the status of fish populations, how climate change, industrial activity and fishing are impacting fish, and whether recovery actions by local groups are working.