JEM Readers respond

Abstract

Congratulations on the success of your new BC Journal
of Ecosystems and Management. We look forward to
future issues on this important topic. However, we
believe there needs to be some clarification on the
recently posted JEM article, “Using forest structural
diversity to inventory habitat diversity of forest-dwelling
wildlife in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia”
by Kris McCleary and Garth Mowat [see pages 120–
132]. The authors state that “forest ecosystem inventories
currently used in the province only document forest
composition (Vegetation Resources Inventory) or
identify plant communities (Terrestrial Ecosystem
Mapping) and are therefore inappropriate or inadequate
as tools for land management planning.” Yet the methods
subsequently described for using forest structure as
a means of inventorying forest-dwelling wildlife habitat
appear to draw heavily on these existing provincial
inventory standards for forest and ecosystem inventory.
These inventories should have been correctly acknowledged
and referenced in McCleary and Mowat’s article.