Mission Statement of

the Morrell Sanctuary Society

for Environmental Education

To preserve and promote the essential

character of Morrell Sanctuary's evolving
ecosystem as a model of co-existence and as
a source of information, inspiration, under-
standing, awareness and enjoyment of nature.

Location of the Morrell Nature Sanctuary within Nanaimo area

Copyright © 2019 by the Morrell Sanctuary Society

for Environmental Education
ISBN: 978-1-7752096-1-4
Printed by Vancouver Island University Printing Services,
Nanaimo, British Columbia
 Morrell Nature Sanctuary Guidebook

1. Introduction

The Morrell Nature Sanctuary encompasses 111 hectares (278

acres) of mature second-growth rainshadow forest within the
Coastal Douglas-fir Biogeoclimatic Zone. The land was donated
by William Morrell in 1971 for public use and conservation, and
is presently owned by the Nature Trust of British Columbia. The
property is leased and managed by the Morrell Sanctuary
Society for Environmental Education as a teaching forest. This
non-profit organization consists of members and volunteers
who care for the site, maintain more than 11 km of trails, raise
funds, and offer a variety of educational programs.

Trail map of the Morrell Nature Sanctuary

Text and photos: Bob Harvey, Lance Nordstrom and John Anderson
Additional photo credits: Geoff Newhouse [GN], Alan Schiemer [AS], Jim Riley [JR]
 Morrell Nature Sanctuary Guidebook

2. History

The land currently occupied by the sanctuary was logged

manually around 1915, and forest fires burned some areas
before and after logging. In 1947, the land was purchased by Bill
Morrell from the Vancouver Coal Company, a subsidiary of
Canadian Collieries Ltd., and remained largely undisturbed for
decades.

In 1971, Bill Morrell donated the property to the British

Columbia Land Commission, and over the next ten years a lake
restoration project was undertaken to form what is now Morrell
Lake. From 1975 to 1980, Malaspina College (now Vancouver
Island University) leased the land and conducted numerous
research projects, including a preliminary survey of resident
flora and fauna, soil and vegetation analyses, and studies
involving pheasants, black-tailed deer, small mammals, reptiles,
and the experimental planting of redwood trees.

A beaver pond, formed in the 1940’s when the large rodents

dammed a stream in the sanctuary, is gradually reverting back
to forest through ecological succession but still remains a
central focus for environmental interpretation. By 1983, the
beavers had consumed most of the food around the pond and
moved to the lake where they were occasionally sighted in
subsequent years.

The main trails within the sanctuary

were constructed between 1982 and
1988. In 1984, the sanctuary land
was given to the Nature Trust of
British Columbia, and the Morrell
Sanctuary Society for Environmental
Education was created to manage The Sanctuary has adopted the Great
Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) as a logo.

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the grounds. The mission of the Society is to preserve and

promote the essential character of the Morrell Nature
Sanctuary’s evolving ecosystem as a model of co-existence
and as a source of information, inspiration, understanding,
awareness and enjoyment of nature. In addition to providing
instructional programs for schools and the local community,
the Society continues to maintain the sanctuary for use by the
general public and tourists visiting the area.

3. Physical and Biotic Environment

The physical environment of the Morrell Nature Sanctuary may

be described in terms of geologic properties (rocks, soils,
landforms) and climate. Lowland areas in the Nanaimo area are
underlain by sedimentary rocks consisting of conglomerates,
sandstones, siltstones, shales, and coal, while the upland areas
are dominated by volcanic rocks such as basalt. The outcrops of
the sanctuary appear to be composed, in part, of dark colored,
fine-grained volcanic rocks rich in calcium, aluminum, iron,
manganese, and magnesium (Christie & Hendershot, 1976).

The soil parent materials of the sanctuary are primarily the

result of glacial and postglacial events. The dominant parent
material is loose glacial till comprised of sand and clay. This
ground moraine was probably deposited during the most recent
(Fraser) glaciation approximately 15,000 years ago (Christie &
Hendershot, 1976). In general, the soils in the sanctuary are
strongly acidic and of low nutrient status. They are a mix of
podzol and brunisol soil types, which typically form under forest
vegetation in cool humid climates. The soils in the sanctuary are
usually well drained, but soils in depressions may become
saturated with water and depleted of oxygen. Shallow soils
associated with bedrock are found on the rocky knolls.

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Major landforms in the sanctuary include hills and valleys, along

with slope characteristics such as angle and orientation. There
are five pronounced hills within the sanctuary, with rocky knolls
located around the crowns (Kennedy, 1977). The topography is
level to extremely sloping. About half of the crown area is
exposed bedrock and the remaining sandy soil is rapidly
drained. The northeastern sides of the hills are more protected
from the drying influence of the sun and tend to be cooler and
moister. The upper slopes are sharply slanted with fast draining
soils, while the middle slopes between the drier upper slopes
and the wetter lower valleys have moderate gradients and
somewhat slower drainage resulting in a moist habitat.
Drainage valleys at the base of the hills receive runoff from
above. The ground is flat to gradually sloping and streams are
often present along the valley floor in the wet seasons.

The climate of the area is transitional between the dry

Mediterranean-like climate of the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf
Islands and the cooler, wetter maritime climate to the north and
west. Annual precipitation is approximately 110 cm, with less
than 10 cm of rain falling between June and September. Normal
winter snowfall is about 70 cm. Average annual temperature is
10⁰C, with a mean of 18⁰C during July and August. The major
climatic limitation is summer aridity and soil moisture deficiency
each growing season on the upland, well-drained soils.

The biological component of the sanctuary, particularly plant

life, is broadly influenced by climate and elevation, as well as
local site moisture and nutrients. The rainshadow effect created
by the Vancouver Island mountain ranges running the length of
the island gives rise to the drier climate on the east coast, which
favours the dominance of coastal Douglas-fir. Western
redcedar, arbutus (also known as madrone), Garry oak , and red
alder frequently accompany Douglas-fir in this rainshadow
forest, depending on soil moisture and nutrient regime.

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Ecologists have classified this terrestrial ecosystem as the

Coastal Douglas-fir Biogeoclimatic Zone, which is limited to a
small part of southeastern Vancouver Island, the Gulf islands,
and a narrow strip of the adjacent mainland (Meidinger & Pojar,
1991). It is confined to elevations mostly below 150 m, and is
represented by warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The
rainshadow forest is considered to be the most diverse forest
type in the northern Pacific coastal region in terms of floristic
composition (Pojar & McKinnon, 2014). It contains some of our
most endangered habitats, and about 50 rare plant species are
restricted to the zone (Meidinger & Pojar, 1991).

Differing land heights within the sanctuary have produced a

variety of plant habitats that enhance species biodiversity. Plant
communities are associated with elevational gradients from low
valley bottoms to high rock outcrops. Ken Kennedy (1977)
recognized four plant communities in the sanctuary based on
landform attributes: rock knolls, upper slopes, middle slopes,
and drainage valleys. The higher elevation rocky hilltops are
characterized by arbutus, Douglas-fir, shore pine, hairy
manzanita, ocean spray, salal, Oregon grape, trailing snowberry,
yarrow, and hairy cat's-ear. Common plants found on the upper
slopes include Douglas-fir, arbutus, western redcedar, salal,
Oregon grape, red huckleberry, vanilla leaf, coralroot, and
Vancouver ground-cone. The diversely vegetated middle slopes
contain western redcedar, bigleaf maple, western hemlock,
ocean spray, red huckleberry, salmonberry, salal, sword fern,
vanilla leaf, lady fern, and western starflower. The wet bottom
land of the drainage valleys are populated by red alder, western
hemlock, cascara, salmonberry, thimbleberry, red elderberry,
hardhack, ninebark, sword fern, skunk cabbage, foamflower,
and Indian-pipe. The animal life is dominated by birds, but some
amphibians, invertebrates, and mammals may also be sighted.

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4. Common Plants and Animals

The following pictorial guide will aid in identifying some of the
representative plants and animals characteristically found in the
Morrell Nature Sanctuary at various times throughout the year.
Additional details about these and other species in the
sanctuary can be found in published field guides such as Plants
of Coastal British Columbia and Birds of Southwestern British
Columbia. Please respect the sanctuary’s plants and animals by
not disturbing them.

Trees and shrubs

Abies amabilis (Pacific silver fir) Acer macrophyllum (bigleaf maple)

Alnus rubra (red alder) Arbutus menziesii (arbutus)

Arctostaphylos columbiana Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

(hairy manzanita) (kinnickinnick)

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Gaultheria shallon (salal) Holodiscus discolor (oceanspray)

Linnaea borealis (twinflower) Mahonia nervosa (dull Oregon grape)

Oemleria cerasiformis (Indian-plum) Physocarpus capitatus (Pacific ninebark)

Pinus contorta (shore pine) Pinus monticola (western white pine)

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Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood) Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir)

Quercus garryana (Garry oak) Rhamnus purshiana (cascara)

Rubus parviflorus (thimbleberry) Rubus spectabilis (salmonberry)

Rubus ursinus (trailing blackberry) Sambucus racemosa (red elderberry)

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Sequoiadendron giganteum Spiraea douglasii

(giant sequoia) (hardhack)

Symphoricarpos mollis Thuja plicata

(trailing snowberry) (western redcedar)

Tsuga heterophylla (western hemlock) Vaccinium parvifolium (red huckleberry)

Wildflowers (please do not pick the sanctuary’s wildflowers)

Achillia millefolium (yarrow) Achlys triphylla (vanilla-leaf)

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Adenocaulon bicolour (pathfinder) Allotropa virgata (candystick)

Anaphalis margaritacea Anisocarpus madioides

(pearly everlasting) (woodland tarweed)

Apocynum androsaemifolium Boschniakia hookeri

(spreading dogbane) (Vancouver groundcone)

Calypso bulbosa (fairy slipper) Campanula scouleri (Scouler’s harebell)

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Claytonia perfoliata Claytonia sibirica

(miner’s-lettuce) (Siberian miner’s-lettuce)

Collomia heterophylla Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis

(vari-leaved collomia) (Ozette coralroot)

Cornus canadensis (bunchberry) Daucus pusillus (wild carrot)

Erythronium oregonum (white fawn lily) Galium aparine (cleavers)

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Geranium robertianum Geum macrophyllum

(herb-robert) (large-leaved avens)

Goodyera oblongifolia Hemitomes congestum

(rattlesnake-plantain) (gnome plant)

Hippuris vulgaris Hypericum peforatum

(common mare’s-tail) (common St. John’s-wort)

Hypochaeris radicata (hairy cat’s-ear) Jacobaea vulgaris (tansy ragwort)

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Lychnis coronaria (rose campion) Lysichiton americanum (skunk cabbage)

Monotropa uniflora Oenanthe sarmentosa

(Indian-pipe) (Pacific water parsley)

Osmorhiza berteroi (sweet-cicely) Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)

Ranunculus repens (creeping buttercup) Sanicula crassicaulis (Pacific sanicle)

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Stachys cooleyae Tellima grandiflora

(Cooley’s hedge-nettle) (fringecup)

Tiarella trifoliata (foamflower) Trientalis latifolia (western starflower)

Trillium ovatum (western trillium) Viola glabella (stream violet)

Ferns

Blechnum spicant (deer fern) Polypodium glycyrrhiza (licorice fern)

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Polystichum munitum (sword fern) Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)

Mosses & Liverworts

Climacium dendroides (tree moss) Dicranum scoparium (broom moss)

Hylocomium splendens (step moss) Isothecium myosuroides (cat-tail moss)

Neckera douglasii Polytrichum juniperinum

(Douglas’ neckera) (juniper haircap moss)

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Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus Porella navicularis

(electrified cat’s-tail moss) (tree-ruffle liverwort)

Lichens

Cladina portentosa (coastal reindeer) Cladonia bellidiflora (toy soldiers)

Cladonia chlorophaea (false pixie cup) Cladonia macilenta (lipstick cladonia)

Evernia prunastri (antlered perfume) Hypogymnia inactiva (forking bone)

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Lobaria pulmonaria (lungwort) Peltigera britannica (freckle pelt)

Peltigera neopolydactyla (frog pelt) Usnea longissima (old man’s beard)

Fungi (please do not pick or disturb the sanctuary’s mushrooms)

Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) Armillaria ostoyae (honey mushroom)

Calocera cornea (small staghorn) Clavaria vermicularis (fairy fingers)

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Fomitopsis pinicola (red belt conk) Ganoderma applanatum (Artist’s conk)

Gyromitra montana (false morel) Helvella maculata (elfin saddle)

Heterotextus alpinus Lepiota magnispora

(witches butter) (yellowfoot dapperling)

Pleurotus pulmonarius Pseudohydnum gelatinosum

(oyster mushroom) (cat’s tongue)

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Ramaria spp. Russula brevipes

(coral fungus) (short-stemmed russula)

Russula xerampelina (shrimp russula) Sparasis crispa (cauliflower fungus)

Strobilurus trullisatus Stropharia ambigua

(Douglas-fir cone mushroom) (questionable Stropharia)

Suillus tomentosus Trametes versicolor

(tomentose Suillus) (turkey tail)

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Tremella mesenterica Xylaria hypoxylon

(yellow brain fungus) (carbon antlers)

Birds

Aix sponsa (wood duck) Anas platyrhynchos (mallard)

Carduelis pinus (pine siskin) [AS] Cathartes aura (Turkey vulture)

Corvus corax (raven) Cyanocitta stelleri (Steller’s jay)

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Dryocopus pileatus Ixoreus naevius

(pileated woodpecker) [GN] (varied thrush) [GN]

Melospiza melodia (song sparrow) [GN] Pipilo maculates (spotted towhee)

Poecile rufescens Regulus satrapa

(chestnut-backed chickadee) [GN] (golden-crowned kinglet) [GN]

Selasphorus rufus Sitta canadensis

(rufous hummingbird) (red-breasted nuthatch) [GN]

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Sphyrapicus ruber Strix varia

(red-breasted sapsucker) (barred owl)

Troglodytes pacificus Turdus migratorius

(Pacific wren) [GN] (American robin)

Amphibians

Anaxyrus boreas Plethodon vehiculum Pseudacris regilla

(western toad) (western red-backed salamander) (Pacific chorus frog)

Rana aurora (Red legged frog) Taricha granulosa (Rough-skinned newt)

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Invertebrates

Ariolimax columbianus (Pacific banana slug)

Monadenia fidelis
(Pacific sideband snail)
Harpaphe haydeniana (Yellow spotted millipede)

Mammals

Odocoileus hemionus columbianus Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

(Columbian black-tailed deer) (Red squirrel)

5. Educational Programs

The Morrell Sanctuary Society’s environ-

mental education programs are designed
to help school-aged children and the
general public explore their natural world.
There are about a dozen different on-site
programs offered, primarily aimed at
kindergarten to grade seven students,
though secondary school classes visit
occasionally. The programs are taught by

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volunteer nature interpreters. Topics include an introduction to

pond life, the cultural importance of western redcedar and
other plants to First Nations people, characteristics of seeds and
spores found in the forest, structure and function of forest
ecosystems, tree identification, and much more.

School Programs offered in 2019:

Mother Nature’s Riches (Gr. 3,5-7; 2 hrs)
Nature Walk: exploring the forest (Gr. 3-12; 2 hrs)
Pond Dippers (Gr. 2-4; 1.5-2 hrs)
Seeds and Spores: exploring change of season (Gr. K-2; 1.5-2 hrs)
Webbed Wanderers: beavers, ducks, frogs (Gr. K-2; 1.5 hrs)
Exploring Nature (Gr. K-2; 1.5 hrs)
Exploring Nature on the Yew Loop (Pre-school; 1 hr)
Forest Detectives: signs of biodiversity (Gr. 1-3; 1.5-2 hrs)
Forest Ecology (Gr. 4,7-12; 2 hrs)
Introduction to Life in the Pond (Gr. K-1; 1.5 hrs)
Meet a Tree (Gr. 3-4; 2 hrs)
...more details available from the sanctuary office.

Some teachers have been bringing their

students to the sanctuary for over 20
years, and hundreds of children attend
these programs annually. Summer day
camps have been held in the sanctuary
for more than 15 years, with some
children returning each summer for
four consecutive years. For elderly
naturalists, long-term care facilities can
book nature interpretive walks with the Society. Seniors are
guided through the wheelchair-accessible Yew Loop trails while
learning about forest ecology. The Society’s commitment to
make environmental education accessible to all members of the
community has brought the importance of conservation to
thousands of individuals over the years as they visit and enjoy
the Morrell Nature Sanctuary.

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6. Self-Guided Interpretive Nature Tour

As one traverses the trails through the Morrell Nature

Sanctuary, you will notice interpretive signs posted at various
locations that identify and describe significant features,
including important plants, wildlife, and other interesting
aspects of the local environment. This self-guided tour
commences shortly after leaving the sanctuary headquarters
and parking lot, where you are greeted by a sign describing the
rainshadow forest. Sheltered in the lee of Vancouver Island, this
forest features a Mediterranean type of
climate, drier than much of maritime British
Columbia. It is dominated by coastal Douglas-
fir, a large thick-barked conifer tree that can
live for over a thousand years and was used
historically by native people for fuel, tools,
medicines, and other applications.

From here, you proceed a short distance up the

Hydro trail, then continue along the Tranquility
trail to your right. An example of a springboard tree is soon
encountered; springboard notches held planks which allowed
fallers to stand and cut above the thick and often difficult lower
part of the trunk. The sanctuary was logged in the early 1900’s
and many large old stumps remain as evidence of past logging
activity. A little further along the trail is a sign illustrating two
forest birds that utilize standing dead trees, or snags; Pileated
Woodpeckers use snags for feeding and nesting sites, while the
Western Screech-owl may occupy abandoned nest holes
constructed by woodpeckers. Sixty-five percent of the bird
species in British Columbia, and thirty percent of the mammals,
require habitat with snags or logs.

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Three of the sanctuary’s most common trees (bigleaf maple,

western redcedar, and western hemlock) are featured on the
next several signs. The leaves of bigleaf maple are deeply five-
lobed and are the largest of any maple in Canada. The trunk,
reaching up to 36 metres in height, is often
draped in mosses because the bark is rich in
calcium and moisture. Squirrels, grosbeaks,
and mice eat the seeds and deer and elk
consume the twigs of bigleaf maple. Coastal
people made use of maple wood for dishes,
pipes, hooks, paddles, baskets, rope and
whisks. British Columbia’s official tree,
western redcedar, can reach 60 metres tall when mature; it is
tolerant of shade and long-lived, sometimes over 1,500 years.
Indigenous people used the wood for dugout canoes, house
planks, bentwood boxes, clothing, and tools such as arrow
shafts, masks, and paddles. It was also used for many natural
medicines. Western hemlock grows 30 to 50 metres tall, with a
narrow crown and conspicuously drooping new growth at the
top of the tree. Its shallow rooting system makes it susceptible
to being blown over by wind as well as being damaged by fire.

As you travel along the path you will see extensive mats of
various moss species carpeting the forest floor, commonly step
moss and electrified cat’s-tail moss, and cloaking the branches
and trunks of trees (e.g., Douglas’ neckera, cat-tail moss).
Lichens, a symbiotic organism comprised of an alga and fungus,
cling to rocks and adhere to tree branches and bark; look for old
man’s beard hanging down from branches and lobes of
lungwort littering the trail.

The Tranquility trail eventually intersects with the

Beaver Pond trail, where the tour continues to
the left bordering the remnants of a beaver pond

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created in the 1940’s. Two viewing platforms, known as Ducks

Deck and Dipper Dock, permit visitors to observe birds such as
the Mallard Duck, Wood Duck, and Steller’s Jay that occasionally
spend time around the pond. Carrying on, the trail passes by a
small cascara tree. It is the only deciduous tree in British
Columbia whose buds are not covered by scales in the winter.
Cascara was harvested through-out its range for use as a
laxative.

Proceeding along the trail you will encounter a sign introducing

another member of the woodpecker family residing in the
sanctuary. Red-breasted Sapsuckers drill parallel rows of small
holes in live trees and feed on the sap and small insects these
holes attract. Sapsuckers excavate nesting cavities in the soft
wood of dead trees which in turn are used by many other birds
and animals. Hummingbirds, in particular the Rufous
Hummingbird, make use of sapsucker feeding holes and come
to rely on them. A nearby example of a nurse stump illustrates
how the decaying surface provides a source of nutrients and a
reservoir for moisture where ferns, mosses and lichens thrive.
Huckleberry and western hemlock are commonly found growing
out of nurse stumps.

Red alders are found along the Beaver Pond trail, as well as
elsewhere in the forest. This medium-sized broadleaf tree grows
up to 24 metres tall, with both male catkins and female flowers
on the same tree. The inner bark tends to
turn deep reddish-orange when exposed to
air. Aboriginal people used the bark for
dyeing basket material, wood, wool, feathers,
human hair, and skin. The wood is low in
pitch, making it useful for smoking meat. Red
alder is short-lived, with an average life span
of 40 to 60 years, but plays an important role

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in the ecosystem's nutrient cycle as a "nitrogen-fixer"; that is, it

is capable of returning nitrogen to the soil in a form that plants
can absorb.

After a short distance the Beaver Pond trail

merges with the Rocky Knoll trail, where an
informative sign describes two of the most common forest
understory shrubs in the Pacific Northwest, salal and dull
Oregon-grape. The berries from both native plants were
important fruit for indigenous people, who ate them fresh or
dried into cakes. The bark of dull Oregon-grape is bright yellow
inside due to an alkaloid called berberine. The shredded bark of
the stems and roots was used to make a bright yellow dye for
basket materials. The bark and berries were also utilized
medicinally for liver, gall-bladder and eye problems. Cold
weather before and after the growing season often causes the
leaves of dull Oregon-grape to turn a reddish colour with the
decomposition of chlorophyll pigment, which reflects green
wavelengths in the visible light spectrum, and the increasing
predominance of red-reflecting anthocyanin pigment.

The Rocky Knoll trail traverses some of the driest and steepest
portions of the Morrell Sanctuary and is home to hairy
manzanita and arbutus. The former is an erect, much-branched
evergreen shrub or small tree 1-3 metres high, with a broad,
rounded, dense canopy. Drought-tolerant hairy manzanita is
typically found in rocky areas and steep slopes, preferring full
sun, well-drained acidic soils, and southern or western
exposure. It requires fire to break seed dormancy and maximize
germination. Arbutus, or madrone, is a broadleaf evergreen tree
up to 30 metres tall, with thin, reddish-brown bark, peeling in
thin strips to expose younger, smooth bark underneath.
Canada’s only native broadleaf evergreen, it is often found on
exposed rocky bluffs near the ocean.

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Continuing on, you may be fortunate enough to observe three

unusual plants; Indian-pipe, western coralroot, and Vancouver
groundcone. Indian-pipe is a ghostly white plant that pokes up
through the forest floor in July and August. Western coralroot is
a native member of the orchid family and grows 25-50 cm tall
with smooth maroon stalks. Whereas green plants character-
istically manufacture organic materials from water and carbon
dioxide (i.e., autotrophic) using energy absorbed by chlorophyll
from sunlight (photosynthesis), these two plants lack chloro-
phyll and obtain their nutrition from other organisms (i.e.,
heterotrophic). Preferring shady coniferous forests, they acquire
carbon from a host green plant by tapping into an intermediary
mycorrhizal fungus attached to the roots of the host plant, and
are thus known as mycotrophic (fungus feeding). In the past,
mycotrophic plants were considered saprophytes, plants that
derive their carbon and nutrients from decaying organic matter,
but this concept is largely rejected today. Parasitic plants are
another type of heterotroph, obtaining their organic carbon
from a host green plant directly through the use of structures
called haustoria. Vancouver ground cone is one such parasitic
heterotroph, procuring its carbon from salal.

Near the end of the Rocky Knoll trail is a lush abundance of

sword ferns, indicating that they are growing in optimal
conditions of soil moisture. These are large, evergreen ferns
whose leaves grow to form a distinctive crown. Like other ferns,
this species reproduces by spores, which in sword ferns are
produced in structures called sori on the undersides of the
fronds. Exiting the Rocky Knoll trail onto the Hydro line access
road, turn right and proceed along to an unmarked path off to
the right, shown as “Bob’s trail” on the map. The trail borders a
stream draining Morrell Lake and passes through one of the
wetter parts of the sanctuary. Here you will find skunk cabbage,
named for the musky odour it sometimes produces. Also called

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swamp lantern, its brilliant yellow torch-like spikes brighten up

dark swamps as early as February or March. The route passes
through a representative area of windthrow, a common, small-
scale natural disturbance. With the death of a large Douglas-fir
tree, more sunlight reaches the forest floor, allowing shade-
intolerant shrubs and herbs to thrive. Canopy gaps like this are
part of the diverse habitats occurring in a natural old growth
forest.

This trail also features an old Black cottonwood

tree. These large, tall, deciduous trees typically
grow at low to medium elevation on moist to
wet sites. Cottonwood was an important
resource for aboriginal peoples and utilized for
a variety of medicinal preparations, as well as
for fuel and other purposes.

Bearing to the left whenever the path forks, the trail ultimately
merges with the Beaver Pond loop and exits onto the fire lane
connecting Morrell Lake with the sanctuary headquarters. A fine
young specimen of western white pine is found near this
junction. In former times western white pine was widespread
and abundant but now its numbers have been severely reduced,
largely due to a fungal disease called white pine blister rust.

At this point, you can return to the parking lot

via the fire lane or retrace the Tranquility or
Rocky Knoll trails back to the parking lot.
Alternatively, you can explore the trails
bordering Morrell Lake where, near the mid-
point on the Lower Lake Trail, you can view a
massive Douglas-fir tree estimated to be more
than 500 years old and over 60 metres tall.

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References
Cannings, R., T. Aversa, & H. Opperman. 2008. Birds of southwestern British
Columbia. Heritage House, Vancouver. 432 p.
Christie, P.A. & W.H. Hendershot. 1976. Soils of the Morrell Wildlife Sanctuary.
Malaspina College, Nanaimo. [88] p.
Kennedy, K. 1977. Vegetation and birds of the Morrell Wildlife Sanctuary.
Malaspina College, Nanaimo. [93] p.
Meidinger, D. & J. Pojar. 1991. Ecosystems of British Columbia. BC Ministry of
Forests, Victoria, p. 81-93.
Pojar, J. & A. MacKinnon. 2014. Plants of coastal British Columbia, including
Washington, Oregon & Alaska, Rev. ed. Lone Pine, Vancouver. 528 p.

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 Morrell Nature Sanctuary Guidebook

The Morrell Nature Sanctuary’s coastal rainshadow forest ecosystem

32
 WELCOME TO THE MORRELL
NATURE SANCTUARY

The Morrell Nature Sanctuary is owned by the Nature

Trust of British Columbia. It is leased and managed by
volunteers at the Morrell Sanctuary Society for
Environmental Education. The Society is a non-profit,
charitable organization whose focus is to provide
environmental education programming and to maintain a
recreational park facility for community use. In order to
meet the needs of community groups and the general
public, the Society relies on a strong and supportive
volunteer core. Please contact the Office Manager for
information about volunteer opportunities at the
Sanctuary if you would like to contribute to this
enterprise.

Morrell Nature Sanctuary

787 Nanaimo Lakes Road
Nanaimo, BC V9R 3C2
https://www.morrellnaturesanctuary.ca
morrell@shawbiz.ca

ENJOY YOUR VISIT AND HELP PROTECT THE

SANCTUARY BY OBSERVING THESE RULES.

MORRELL SANCTUARY SOCIETY FOR

Thanks ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION