Please take note: The Provincial Parks coin program will be coming to a close at the end of 2019. It was a great program but it has run its course, and it is time to look at something new. Passports will be accepted until the end of the year, If there is an issue with a cache please communicate by sending a message on the cache page. The address has changed to send in the passports, please use this address:
Nova Scotia Dept. of Lands and Forestry
15 Arlington Place, Suite 7
Truro, Nova Scotia
B2N 0G9
Nova Scotia Parks Help Mitigate The Affects Of Climate Change
Parks and protected areas are increasingly being recognized for the important role they play as a resource for mitigating and adapting to climate change. There is a growing body of evidence indicating the world’s climate is changing and adaptation will be necessary if societal and natural conditions are to exist as they do today.
Parks protect ecosystems and the services they provide for people; they store vast quantities of carbon, preventing its conversion to greenhouse gases and they provide safe havens for wildlife. Parks are managed to encourage forest to develop naturally. Forests and forest soils play a vital part in the carbon cycle, and can act as either a carbon source or a carbon sink.
A forest is a carbon sink when it absorbs more carbon than it releases. The thickness of the dead organic forest floor (duff layer), is directly related to the amount of carbon stored. Assuming forest floor material contains or stores on average about 40% carbon and has an average density of 0.15 milligrams per metre3, each cm in depth of forest floor equates to about 6 tonnes per hectare of stored carbon.
For example, if the forest floor is 10 cm thick, it contains about 10 x 6 = 60 tonnes per hectares of carbon. There is also lots of carbon stored deeper in the soil, in deadwood on the ground, and in living plants.
Measure the thickness of the organic forest floor (duff); do not include large pieces of dead wood or living plants. Record the thickness of the duff layer on the space provided, use the punch found in each cache to punch your passport.
Each geocache will have a ruler to make your measurements.
You can also estimate the mass of carbon in tonnes per hectare stored in the forest floor at each location by using the formula provided above. Compare the measurements taken under various forest and site conditions.
This geocache is part of the 2012 NS Provincial Parks Geocaching challenge. To participate in the challenge, you will need to download the associated PASSPORT. At each geocache, there is a punch that you can mark the corresponding box on your passport. Collect all 5 and you can send in your passport to receive a free trackable geocoin.
The Passport
You can download the passport from NS Parks.