Geography of Vancouver

Located on the Burrard Peninsula, Vancouver lies between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south. The Strait of Georgia, to the west, is shielded from the Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island. The city has an area of 114 km2 (44 sq mi), including both flat and hilly ground, and is in the Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8) and the Pacific Maritime Ecozone. Until the city's naming in 1885, "Vancouver" referred to Vancouver Island, and it remains a common misconception that the city is located on the island. The island and the city are both named after Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver (as is the city of Vancouver, Washington in the United States).
Vancouver has one of the largest urban parks in North America, Stanley Park, which covers 404.9 hectares (1001 acres). The North Shore Mountains dominate the cityscape, and on a clear day scenic vistas include the snow-capped volcano Mount Baker in the state of Washington to the southeast, Vancouver Island across the Strait of Georgia to the west and southwest, and Bowen Island to the northwest.


Spanish Bank Creek


Spanish Bank Creek flows north through Pacific Spirit Regional Park near U.B.C. It terminates at the beach under the Spanish Bank cliffs on Northwest Marine Drive. Urban development rendered the creek impassable to adult fish for many decades but the creek has been restored and, since 2001, sockeye salmon have been returning there to spawn.




Musqueam Creek


Musqueam Creek, and its tributary Cutthroat Creek, begin in Pacific Spirit Regional Park and flow south through the Musqueam Reserve in the Southlands neighbourhood of Vancouver, where they meet before entering the Fraser River estuary. The creeks are protected by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Musqueam Creek is in the process of restoration by the Musqueam Band, and Coho salmon and Chum salmon have returned to this creek in small amounts.




Still Creek


Still Creek is a 17 km long creek that begins in Vancouver, crosses into Burnaby, and terminates in Burnaby Lake. In Vancouver, the Still Creek watershed is bounded by 1st Avenue, 49th Avenue, Nanaimo Street, and Boundary Road. Portions of the creek are visible and the City of Vancouver is working to uncover (or "daylight") more of the creek; however, most of the Vancouver section still lies underground, directed by culverts and storm sewers.


Lower Mainland Ecoregion is the biogeoclimatic region that surrounds Vancouver, British Columbia, comprising the eastern edge of the Georgia Depression[1] and extending from Powell River, British Columbia on the Sunshine Coast to Hope at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley. It thus corresponds, for the most part, with the popular usage of the term "Lower Mainland." The Lower Mainland Ecoregion is a part of the Pacific Maritime Ecozone.
The ecoregion is bounded by the Coast and Cascade Mountains and traversed by the Fraser River. It has a unique climate, flora and fauna, geology and land use. The following description is adapted from Environment Canada's Ecological Framework of Canada.
The ecoregion extends west from the Skagit Range of the Cascade Mountains at Chilliwack to the Fraser river delta at Richmond and north to include a portion of the Georgia Lowland along the Sunshine Coast.
The mean annual temperature in the Lower Mainland is 9°C with a summer mean of 15 °C and a winter mean of 3.5 °C. Annual precipitation ranges from an annual mean of 850 mm in the west end to 2000 mm in the eastern end of the Fraser Valley and at higher elevations. Maximum precipitation occurs as rain in winter. Less than ten percent falls as snow at sea level but the amount of snowfall increases significantly with elevation.




Flora and fauna


Forests of Coast Douglas-fir, with an understory of salal, Oregon-grape and moss, are typical of the mature native vegetation found throughout the ecoregion. Mixed stands of Coast Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock are common, with some dogwood and arbutus occurring on drier sites. Red alder is a common pioneer species where sites have been disturbed. Wet sites support Coast Douglas-fir, Western Hemlock, and Western Redcedar. Wildlife includes black-tailed deer, coyote, raccoon, shorebirds, and waterfowl.
The ecoregion is underlain by unconsolidated glaciofluvial deposits, silty alluvium, silty and clayey marine sediments and glacial till. Bedrock outcrops of Mesozoic and Palaeozoic origin form rolling hills up to about 310 metres above sea level. The Fraser River dominates this lowland. Gleysols, Mesisols, and Humisols are the dominant wetland soils in the region, while Eutric and Dystric Brunisols and some Podzols have developed on sandy to loamy outwash and glacial till in the uplands.




Land use


The region includes a mix of urban settlement and agricultural land, comprising both the largest population centre and some of the most fertile farmland in British Columbia. Intensive agriculture occurs on the rich bottomland of the Fraser Valley where it competes with urban development. Forestry takes place on the slopes of the mountains. Coastal salt marshes provide important wildlife habitat in the Fraser delta and Boundary Bay. There are about 870 square kilometres of productive farmland in the ecoregion.
There is rapid urban and suburban growth in the Vancouver area and communities in the Fraser Valley and Sunshine Coast. The main population centre in this ecoregion is Greater Vancouver. Other centres include North Vancouver, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, and Mission.



All about The Vancouver:

• The Vancouver
• History of Vancouver
• Climate of Vancouver
• Cityscape of Vancouver
• Architecture of Vancouver
• Demographics of Vancouver
• Military in Vancouver
• Sports in Vancouver
• Transportation in Vancouver
• Media in Vancouver
• Arts and culture in Vancouver
• Education in Vancouver
• Policing and crime in Vancouver
• Economy of Vancouver