A holiday gift from Kwiaht

How did everything get here?

The San Juan Islands were submerged in glacial ice 14,000 years ago. As the ice melted, plants and animals gradually found their way from the mainland to the newly emerged islands. Some were blown in by wind, some flew or swam, some rafted down on logjams from the Skagit and Fraser Rivers and some were brought by people. Each island has a different history of re-colonization, and thus to some extent, different plants and animals than the mainland and from each other. KWIAHT has been studying the assembly patterns of ecosystems on Lopez and the neighboring islands for 20 years -- and this special free holiday lecture by Kwiaht director Russel Barsh will share an overview of what we have learned about the distribution of species as diverse as flying squirrels, alligator lizards, freshwater sculpins, and manzanita, and mosses! Slideshow, questions, and discussion.