Student Assistants The PERCS project benefits greatly from the Work Learn Program at UBC! These students learn technical skills and get real-world work experience on an interdisciplinary project while they complete their degrees. Read on to learn about the work of our 2024-25 work learn students. | Aloysio da Campos Paz Aloysio worked on detecting hedgerows from space using artificial intelligence and satellite imagery. More specifically he compared the performance of a deep learning model called UNET to a random forest model and to a logistic regression model, to test if the deep learning model is indeed better than simpler models. He also modularized the code and made it easier to evaluate multiple models on the cloud computer called Compute Canada. While he is confident the UNET performed better than the logistic regression, he feels less confident stating the UNET did better than the random forest due to challenges training the random forest on the full dataset. | | Jade LaFontaine PhD student Jade LaFontaine nleʔkepmx worked on the restoration project at UBC farm from September 2024 to April 2025. Her job was to remove the himalayan black berry and trailing black berry, as well as clover, dandelion, sweet vernal grass, creeping buttercup, cress, crab grass and peas. In the process she learned a lot about site preparation and management and different methods of restoration, including exploring options for the edge of the plot using evergreen plants between the external weeds and the garden. | Field work updates It's a busy season in the field! PERCS researchers are now working on over 50 farms in the Fraser Valley! | | Alexis Graves Alexis is an MSc student at UBC. Her project aims to identify hedgerow plant community characteristics that influence susceptibility to invasion by agriculturally problematic and noxious weeds and to understand how hedgerows influence soil chemistry and microbial diversity within the hedgerow and adjoining fields. It also unites these to investigate the impact of weed invasion in soil chemistry and microbial diversity. | | This summer she will visit 16 different hedgerows to conduct vegetation surveys and collect soil samples in hedgerows and adjoining fields for analyses. Hedgerows are well known to provide many ecological benefits but the role of plant community structure in susceptibility to weed invasion and microbial diversity is poorly understood. Understanding the impact of plant community structure in hedgerows impacts weed invasion and microbial diversity sheds light on ecological and agricultural benefits. | Image of coyote and bat signals caputured with monitoring equipment | Wildlife Team The wildlife team is headed by Dr. Matt Mitchell of the Mitchell Multifunctional Landscape Lab at UBC and Dr. Chelsea Little of the Little Ecology Group at SFU. This summer, their group members Izzy Nicholson, Ray Fort, and Aaron Aguirre have been setting up automated wildlife cameras and audio recorders in agricultural landscapes in the Fraser Valley to assess how mammals, bats, and birds use habitat in farm fields, hedgerows, and riparian areas. By the end of the summer, they also hope to deploy the same monitoring equipment in forested areas such as municipal parks. This sampling will help us understand how biodiversity is affected by planting hedgerows and riparian buffers: does this create habitat or movement corridors through farmland, and if so, which species are benefitting? Initial results from this summer will inform a larger-scale sampling campaign next year. | Carbon Team  This summer the PERCS Carbon team is establishing methods and collecting baseline data of carbon in soil, plant biomass and stream sediments in farms across the Fraser Valley. We are measuring soil carbon and plant biomass in field margins and riparian zones with perennial plantings, compared with the adjacent cropland, unplanted field margins, and nearby intact forests in regional parks. Soil samples are taken across set intervals to 1 meter depth using a manual auger. We are also developing methods for non-destructive plant biomass estimation using the combination of visual species surveys and biovolume, together with LiDAR surveys conducted by a drone. The plots and sampling design are structured so that we can return to our plots in a few years’ time and detect any changes in carbon accumulation.
| Presentation to Delta Farmland & Wildlife Trust On May 8th, PERCS Researchers joined DFWT staff at the Alaksen Wildlife Area to see some historic hedgerows, bird watch, and share research findings from previous research projects partnered with DFWT. PERCS researchers learned more about the history of the DFWT hedgerow program and discussed DFWT research interests that were shared at the Co-Development Meeting. PERCS researchers continue to work with DFWT to translate previous research results into outreach documents and handouts for DFWT participating farms. Thanks DFWT for hosting our team! | | Interactive tools to pick ideal combos of perennial plants for biodiverse agricultural landscape restoration By Ilyas Siddique, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) - Florianópolis - BRAZIL Finding well-adapted woody species for each local landscape context can be very time consuming if one wants to escape the same widely promoted standard set, but rather prioritize locally native, rare or even endangered species that simultaneously address context-specific socioeconomic and cultural demands of a restoration project. To overcome this challenge for any of the world's 846 ecoregions, World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) recently published two interactive tools complementing one another, which are still little-known and underutilized in temperate climate landscape restoration. For example, for the Puget Lowland Forests of BC and WA (centered on the north-south depression, the Puget Trough, between the Cascade Range and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington), the EcoregionsTreeFinder (WebApp https://patspo.shinyapps.io/EcoregionsTreeFinder; Kindt & Pedercini 2025) lets you list and filter the 85 woody species native to this ecoregion (or all hundreds of introduced/adapted species) with: - Their respective distribution data, life form, conservation threat status, bioclimatic envelope, present and future potential distribution &
- Direct hyperlinks to the respective species pages on external databases covering botanical identification (World Flora Online), ecology, socioeconomic and cultural uses (Agroforestry Species Switchboard), seed data (Society for Ecological Restoration), invasiveness (CABI), growth forms (allometry and canopy architecture), etc.
After filtering the list of potentially useful common and rare species for a particular project, users can then overcome the frustrating fragmentation among dozens of large databases that cover different regions, groups of plants, and kinds of information: The thoroughly expanded new 4.0 version of the Agroforestry Species Switchboard serves as a kind of metadatabase covering 442 families containing about a quarter of all known plant species. It integrates 59 databases on uses, ecology, botany, etc. of plants for land use diversification, multifunctional agriculture, livestock, forestry and ecological restoration (Kindt et al. 2025): https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/products/switchboard/index.php References of the 2 new tools: Kindt, R. & Pedercini, F. (2025) EcoregionsTreeFinder—A Global Dataset Documenting the Abundance of Observations of >45,000 Tree Species in 828 Terrestrial Ecoregions. Global Ecol Biogeogr https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70064.
WebApp: https://patspo.shinyapps.io/EcoregionsTreeFinder/ Kindt, R., Siddique, I., Dawson, I., John, I., Pedercini, F., Lillesø, J., & Graudal, L. (2025) The Agroforestry Species Switchboard, a global resource to explore information for 107,269 plant species. Scientific Data 12, 1150 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05492-w
Interactive User Interface currently being updated to new version 4.0: https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/products/switchboard/index.php | PERCS ice cream social! August 7, 2025
Join the PERCS team for a cool summer treat! Meet on the steps of the MacMillan Building at UBC to catch up on summer happenings! | | Jikai Zhao, PhD student Jikai is a PhD student in Dr. Naomi Schwartz’s lab at UBC, Vancouver. Prior to pursuing his PhD, he received his Master’s degree in Geography from Beijing Forestry University (BJFU), focusing on the spatial distribution patterns of vegetation and their impacts on desertification and carbon use efficiency. His PhD project will focus on quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon sequestration by perennial plant cultivation in the study area. | | The Governance of Perennial Restoration on BC's Agricultural Land: An Initial Review Thursday, August 7 3:00pm – 4:00pm MCML350 (2357 Main Mall, UBC) Anouk Bassou is a first-year Masters’ student visiting from the Environmental Policy program at Sciences Po – Paris School of International Affairs in France, specializing in environmental and agricultural policy. She will share her internship findings on key policies and programs relevant to producer adoption of perennial plantings on agricultural land in British Columbia, with comparisons to the EUCAP in France and other relevant cases. Her research contributes to the Policy & Adoption Team’s aim of assessing the policy landscape and identifying drivers and barriers of perennial adoption in BC and beyond. | Native Perennials Twilight Tour Tuesday, August 12 6:30-7:30PM Join Dr. Alex Lyon to explore the variety of native perenial plants at the KPU Farm and learn about the importance off introducing these species to our ecosystem. This event is free and open to the community - no registration rewquired. Meet at 6:30pm in front of the dome at 5500 Garden City Rd, Richmond, BC. | Farmer Feature: Shari Tompe, Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch | At Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch, pumpkins may be the main crop, but so much more grows on these 12 acres than seasonal produce. The farm, which has been in the same family for over 90 years, also hosts goats, pigs, and a vibrant summer farm school for local kids. It’s a working farm that’s deeply rooted in community—and in nature. Over the past decade, farmer Shari Tompe and their team have been working with conservation organization A Rocha Canada as part of the Farmland Advantage program. Their goal? To restore perennial plantings, enhance streamside habitat, and support native wildlife. | “We’ve seen a lot of changes on the land, and some of our older trees—alders and cottonwoods—are reaching the end of their lifespan,” explains Shari. “With help from A Rocha, we removed invasive blackberries and planted native willows, shrubs, and cedars along our streams and ponds.” | | The restoration efforts are already paying off. Not only is the stream flowing better with shade-providing trees, but the farm has also seen a boost in pollinator activity and wildlife presence—including coyotes captured on the PERCS camera. Thanks to A Rocha’s coordination and volunteer power, the actual planting process was smooth and low-cost for the farm. “We were really fortunate,” says Shari. “They managed the planning, brought in equipment, and did the planting. Our job has been to maintain it—mainly by watering and preventing blackberries from taking over again.” | | The restoration journey isn’t over yet. Some areas of the farm still have aging trees, and Shari sees opportunities to expand their perennial planting efforts. “If there’s a chance to work with A Rocha and Farmland Advantage again, we’d love to. It’s made such a difference to our farm—and to the wildlife that’s increasingly finding refuge here as surrounding areas get developed.” When asked what policymakers can do to scale up perennial restoration, the answer is clear: support matters. “Farmers often want to do these projects. But with everything else going on, it’s hard to find the time or resources,” says Shari. “Programs like Farmland Advantage make a big difference by helping us follow through on good intentions.” | Shari is also a UBC alumnus and was excited to reconnect with research through the PERCS project. “I always imagined the kinds of projects I’d want to run if I had access to university labs and students. This partnership has been the perfect way to stay connected with academia while benefiting our land and community.” With wildlife cameras, sonar equipment, and researchers now regular visitors to the farm, there’s a buzz of scientific activity—and plenty for students and visitors to talk about. “It’s been such a fun and meaningful addition to what we do here. We’re really grateful for the respect and curiosity everyone has brought to the farm.” | | KPU researchers explore how perennial plants reduce carbon emissions in agriculture Our partners at Kwantlen Polytecnic University wrote an article about Dr. Alexandra Lyon's contributions to the PERCS project through outreach and education at the demonstration site. Read the article | | | | | |
.jpg?1744052275394)
