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Alaska Wild Rhubarb (Koenigia alaskana var. glabrescens; Polygonaceae) is a native Arctic, subarctic, and alpine plant of northwestern North America. Although the plant has some economic and ecological importance, its biology is poorly known. At 11 sites in the northeast corner of its range in Northwest Territories, we found that 87% of its floral visitors were flies, mostly Syrphidae, a diverse family known to be important pollinators. Insects visiting consecutive flowers on different plants and, thus, likely effecting pollination were also flies (78.6%) and also mostly Syrphidae (72.7%) followed by Hymenoptera (20%). Although syrphids were the dominant potential pollinators at most sites, there was some variation among sites. Our results provide quantitative support for pollinator diversity and the major role of Syrphidae in pollination of Alaska Wild Rhubarb. We suggest that pollination is not a limiting factor in this plant’s spread, nor its rare and local occurrence and restricted distribution, because the majority of its pollinators are widespread.

Disjunctions are reported for Needle-leaved Sedge (Carex duriuscula) and Thread-leaved Sedge (Carex filifolia) into the Arctic region of Northwest Territories at the Husky Lakes south of Tuktoyaktuk. These are significant additions to the Canadian Arctic flora and may be part of a group of relicts of the Arctic vegetation of the Pleistocene, specifically the Tundra-steppe. The occurrence of relict vegetation east of the Mackenzie Delta is east of its frequently cited eastern limit in North America.

We provide information on two additions to the fauna of Northwest Territories, Canada: Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) and Huron Short-winged Locust (Melanoplus huroni). We suspect that both are long established but were overlooked in the past as a consequence of general rarity.

We provide an updated checklist of Orthoptera and their allies for each Maritime province of Canada with details for 21 new species records. Drumming Katydid (Meconema thalassinum), recorded from Nova Scotia (NS) and Prince Edward Island (PEI), and Sprinkled Grasshopper (Chloealtis conspersa), recorded from New Brunswick (NB) are reported for the first time from the Maritimes as a whole. We report range extensions in the Maritime region for Australian Cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae; NB), Treetop Bush Katydid (Scudderia fasciata; NS), Short-legged Camel Cricket (Ceuthophilus brevipes; PEI), Spotted Camel Cricket (Ceuthophilus maculatus; PEI), Roesel’s Shield-backed Katydid (Roeseliana roesellii; NS), and Black-horned Tree Cricket (Oecanthus nigricornis; PEI). Short-winged Mole Cricket (Neoscapteriscus abbreviatus; NB) and European Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa; NS) are reported as adventives (non-native species that are believed to be not yet established), new to Canada from the Maritimes. Other new records for species not known to be established are Lined Earwig (Doru taeniatum; NS), Australian Cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae; PEI), American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana; NB), Brown Cockroach (Periplaneta brunnea; PEI), Smooth Cockroach (Nyctibora laevigata; NB), West Indian Leaf Cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis; NB), an unidentified Parcoblatta species (NB), Brown-banded Cockroach (Supella longipalpa; PEI), Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa; NB), and American Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca americana; NS).

The introduced Wormslug (Boettgerilla pallens Simroth, 1912) is reported from Quebec, Canada, for the first time, from two closely situated localities in Gatineau Park. It was previously reported from the Vancouver area of British Columbia and, very recently, from Newfoundland. Within the Americas, the species has been reported from northern California, Mexico, and Colombia, and, because it is easily overlooked, likely occurs elsewhere in North America, especially in the eastern United States. In Quebec, it was found in a natural Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum Marshall) woodland and an ornamental garden. Wormslug likely reached both sites with shrub plantings from commercial nurseries, probably quite recently, because the invasive spread of the species, worldwide, has occurred mostly during the last few decades. Although the woodland where it occurred is dominated by native plants, the gastropod fauna there is mainly introduced. Identification, characteristics, and ecology of Wormslug are discussed. The potential for impact on native soil and soil surface organisms, including native terrestrial slugs and snails, is noted.

Highlights from the Northwest Territories BioBlitzes

A Red Pine ( Pinus resinosa Aiton) plantation and adjacent Northern Red Oak ( Quercus rubra L.) – Large-toothed Aspen ( Populus grandidentata Michx.) woods, both of which developed from a savannah scrub beginning approximately 60 years ago, were compared with regard to terrestrial snail diversity and abundance. The comparison involved a 30-minute search of ten 1-m 2 quadrats at ten sites in each habitat. In the Northern Red Oak – Large-toothed Aspen woodland, 13 species and 661 individuals were recorded, whereas, in the Red Pine plantation, six species and 24 individuals were recorded. In the Northern Red Oak – Large-toothed Aspen woodland, the most characteristic and abundant species was Novisuccinea ovalis (Say, 1817), which was present in 74 of the 100 quadrats and was represented by 460 individuals. In the pine plantation, the most common species was Zonitoides arboreus (Say, 1816) , which was present in 16 quadrats and was represented by 17 individuals. This species was the second most common in the Northern Red Oak – Large-toothed Aspen woodland where 70 individuals were found in 34 quadrats. In both habitats, Z. arboreus was associated with downed wood. Other species occurring in more than 15% of quadrats in the Northern Red Oak –Large-toothed Aspen woodland were Strobilops labyrinthicus (Say, 1817), Glyphyalinia indentata (Say, 1823), and Euche motrema fraternum (Say, 1824) . Although a lower number and diversity of terrestrial snails in the conifer plantation was expected, the contrast was greater than anticipated. The estimated abundance of 46 000 N. ovalis per hectare suggests the potential importance of these medium-sized snails in the relatively dry Northern Red Oak – Large-toothed Aspen ecosystem.

This is the first Thematic Collection of The Canadian Field–Naturalist, an initiative of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club (OFNC) Publications Committee. Thematic Collections are editor-selected compilations ofpreviously published contributions to both The Canadian Field-Naturalist (CFN) and to the OFNC’s regional publication, Trail & Landscape (T&L), on a central theme with links to each article. The articles concern alvar landscapes, species that occur on alvars, and the conservation of alvar habitats. We estimate that the titles assembled here from those two publications represent 50% of the important papers published on Canadianalvars.

It has been suggested that European Skipper butterflies (Thymelicus lineola) trapped in the lips of the Showy Lady’s-slipper orchid (Cypripedium reginae) may interfere with pollination. This could occur through blockage of the pollinator pathway, facilitation of pollinator escape without pollination, and/or disturbance of the normal pollinators. A large population of the orchid at an Ottawa Valley site provided an opportunity to test the interference hypothesis. The number of trapped skippers was compared in 475 post-blooming flowers with regard to capsule development and thus seed development. The presence of any skippers within flowers was associated with reduced capsule development (P = 0.0075), and the probability of capsule development was found to decrease with increasing numbers of skippers (P = 0.0271). The extent of a negative effect will depend on the abundance of the butterflies and the coincidence of flowering time and other factors. Counts of skippers trapped in flowers were found to follow closely a negative binomial distribution (P = 0.8656).

A vegetation restoration procedure was developed for open sandy habitats in the Ottawa Valley of Ontario. It was designed to restore a pre-determined plant association and consisted of six steps: (1) determine the restoration objective and role of vegetation; (2) determine the potential natural vegetation of the restoration site based on survey of regional remnants resulting in a list of native species with an indication of their regional status and coefficients of conservatism; (3) determine what vegetation is present on the restoration site resulting in another list of native species with an indication of their regional status and coefficients of conservatism; (4) calculate a floristic quality index (FQI) for the restoration site; (5) based on the soil moisture at the site and the regional survey, develop a potential list, following introduction, of native species, rare native species, and a FQI for the potentially restored site; (6) complete restoration and monitor effectiveness using the target specie...

The historical distribution ofGlaucopsyche lygdamus(Doubleday) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in southern Ontario, Canada was analysed using three major databases. In southern Ontario,G.lygdamusincludes (1) subspeciesG.lygdamus couperiGrote that has expanded its range from the north since the 1940s and 1950s reaching Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 2012; (2) a non-expanding population on the Norfolk Sand Plain, Ontario, Canada that appears phenotypically closest toG.lygdamus couperi, but with some wing marking characters that are transitional to the more southern subspeciesG.lygdamus lygdamus; and (3) rare and local pre-expansion populations referable toG.lygdamus couperithat occurred in the Ottawa Valley and Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada in alvar woodlands, and possibly also on lakeshore dunes. The very rare and local occurrences of silvery blue in southern Ontario in the past is in direct contrast to its increasing abundance in the area in present times, but the genetic and phenotypic diversity of silvery blue may be declining due to genetic mixing with and/or to the effect of increasing parasitoids from the expanding race.

To determine whether Eleocharis tuberculosa var. pubnicoensis should be treated as a variety or as a form, herbarium material from throughout eastern North America and plants in southern Nova Scotian populations were examined. The variety pubnicoensis with smooth achene bristles was found to be confined to Great Pubnico Lake in Yarmouth County, southwestern Nova Scotia. Correlation analysis of population samples from 4 of 5 Nova Scotian lakes suggested that 4 of 5 characters associated with smooth bristles are actually a consequence of immaturity of fruiting spikes, and the remaining character is not significantly correlated. Discriminant analysis using the same characters of the same populations indicated that groupings based on bristle type were less significant and had higher misclassification rates than those based on spike maturity (based on disarticulation) and water depth. Due to a lack of confidence in a genetically based ecological and geographic integrity and a single morphological char...

Premise of the study: Constructing complete, accurate plant DNA barcode reference libraries can be logistically challenging for large-scale floras. Here we demonstrate the promise and challenges of using herbarium collections for building a DNA barcode reference library for the vascular plant flora of Canada. Methods: Our study examined 20,816 specimens representing 5076 of 5190 vascular plant species in Canada (98%). For 98% of the specimens, at least one of the DNA barcode regions was recovered from the plastid loci rbcL and matK and from the nuclear ITS2 region. We used beta regression to quantify the effects of age, type of preservation, and taxonomic affiliation (family) on DNA sequence recovery. Results: Specimen age and method of preservation had significant effects on sequence recovery for all markers, but influenced some families more (e.g., Boraginaceae) than others (e.g., Asteraceae). Discussion: Our DNA barcode library represents an unparalleled resource for metagenomic and ecological genetic ...

Most people have never heard of Rooibos (pronounced “roy-boss”) Tea, but that is rapidly changing. The beverage derived from this shrub is becoming popular, but the unique habitat of the plant and its many companion species is now threatened.

(2009). BLOSSOMING TREASURES OF BIODIVERSITY: 27. Cannabis—Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. Biodiversity: Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 31-38.

A floristic survey of a polje lakebed, which is full in the spring but drains completely as the season progresses, revealed a community of small mud-bottom plants including the globally rare Coleanthus subtilis, not previously recorded from Northwest Territories, Canada. The newly discovered site is 1077 miles NNW of its nearest North American location in southern British Columbia, which is the northern edge of a region of occurrence including southern British Columbia and the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. The lakebed flora included four zones of vascular plants. Coleanthus subtilis was confined to the lowest level mud-bottom community, which had been exposed for the shortest period and included a rich assemblage of annuals including Juncus bufonius, Limosella aquatica, and Ranunculus hyperboreus. The lakebed flora included mostly widespread boreal species, and C. subtilis may be included in this category. It appears restricted to specific montane and boreal areas by its requirement of...

Champlain beachgrass (Ammophila champlainensis) was described by Seymour in 1966 as endemic to the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York. Some later authors have recognized it while others have not, or they have treated it at a different rank. In order to resolve the issue of the recognition and appropriate rank, nine characters, including those suggested by previous authors as important to distinguish this taxon, were measured in 457 specimens from throughout the northeastern North American range of Ammophila. A reduced data set of 281 specimens and seven characters was studied using: (1) analysis of variance to determine optimal characters for differentiating geographical groups; (2) scatter plot analysis of optimal characters; (3) principal component analysis to investigate the major trends in pattern of variation without character weighting; (4) discriminant analysis to determine the extent of differentiation using a weighted formula; and (5) linear regression to reveal trends in v...

Seven characters were evaluated in 146 specimens ofGomphus fraternus(Say), including both subspecies,G. f. fraternus(Say) andG. f. manitobanusWalker, to clarify their circumscription and geographic occurrence in Canada. Specimens corresponding to subspeciesmanitobanuswere all from the Assiniboine and Red rivers and formed a discrete group in a principal components analysis, supporting their taxonomic recognition. Their distribution in Canada suggests a separation of subspecies near the boundary of the prairie ecozone in central southern Manitoba. In subspeciesfraternusthe extensor surfaces of the tibiae are largely black, with pale areas often lacking and rarely up to 50% of the segment length. Similarly the dorsal surface of abdominal segment 9 is largely black. If there is a pale area, it is manitobanusthe extensor surfaces of the tibiae have pale markings on ≥50% of their lengths and the dorsal surface of abdominal segment 9 has a dorsal yellow spot ≥1.4 mm long. Widespread dragonflies in western North America are paler in drier climates and the increased pale colouration in the western subspeciesmanitobanuscorresponds to this trend. Currently known only from Manitoba, subspeciesmanitobanusmay occur in prairie habitats of the Midwestern United States, based on reports of pale individuals in that region.

There are over 400 thousand plant species on earth. Tens of thousands of these are used directly for food, medicine, construction materials, industrial products, and ornament. Some of the world's major crops have become unprofitable, and there is a need for new crops to meet the growing needs of the 21st century. New crops can be plants not used previously, new varieties of familiar crops, well known crops used for a new purpose, and crops cultivated in a new area, grown with new techniques or sold in new markets. There is excellent potential to utilize thousands of plants that are not yet well known. Promising new crops include all kinds of plants originating from all over the world. Examples are provided of recent new crops in eight major categories, including food, forage, medicine, wood & fibre, industrial purposes, fuel & energy, ornament, and environmental benefits. Because it is impossible to predict exactly which plants will be invaluable in the future, it is critical to maintain as many ...

Amber coloration, called saffroning, extends from 1 to 15 mm across the hind-wing base in females of Sympetrum internum Montgomery from the prairie provinces but extends only from 2 to 3 mm in males. There are no substantial differences in hind-wing length between the sexes. A significant correlation was found between hind-wing length and the extent of saffroning for both males and females. Regressions of these characters against latitude and longitude revealed that (1) there is a significant decrease in hind-wing length northward for both sexes; (2) there is a significant decrease in saffroning northward that is more significant for females; (3) there is no significant effect of longitude on hind-wing length; and (4) saffroning in females significantly increases westward but there is no similar effect in males, and the trend in females is much less significant than the latitudinal trend. Within the prairie provinces, extensive saffroning is confined to the Prairie Ecozone and moderate saffroning occurs around the edges of this ecozone. The surrounding Boreal Plains Ecozone is characterized by females with very limited saffroning. There is generally extensive variation in the extent of saffroning within some Prairie Ecozone locations, ranging from limited to moderate or extensive, but limited and moderate saffroning were more frequent at most locations in the Prairie Ecozone. Various explanations for saffroning are considered. Since limited, moderate, and extensive saffroning occur together throughout an extensive area, and occur within many populations and within a group emerging at the same time, formal taxonomic recognition of individuals with moderate or extensive saffroning seems unwarranted.

The field of invasive species biology has been growing rapidly in the past decade, spurred on by the US Executive Order on invasive species in 1999. Despite calls to deal with invasive alien species under the International Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, Canada has been slow to act. Part of the difficulty in managing alien invasive species effectively lies in the lack of ecological knowledge. The Canadian strategy on invasive alien terrestrial plants developed recently by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency sees research as a critical component of the strategy, including study of the biology and ecology of invasive plants. A symposium on ecology and invasive plant species at the Plant Canada meeting in 2007 in Saskatoon served to explore some emerging research in Canada, particularly focusing on Canada’s prairie region. Papers derived from five of the presentations are presented here and illustrate well the continuing challenge of applying ecological principles to the complex issues surrounding invasive plants. Canadian ecologists have made a significant contribution, but much remains to be done along the lines of the simple studies provided in this symposium. Key words: Invasive alien species, prairie region, biodiversity, ecological research

Phragmites australis subsp. australis is an invasive alien of major importance in natural habitats in many parts of North America but methods of distinguishing it from the native subsp. americanus required more research. A study of the value of basal stem internode color was conducted in eastern Ontario where the long history of collections enables characteristics of the native subspecies to be evaluated, since the invasive alien subspecies is believed to have arrived only recently. Although there is some overlap, correlation analysis indicated that basal stem internode color was highly correlated with ligule height and lower glume length, the latter characters being considered the most important for differentiation. With regard to ligule height, a measurement excluding the fringe of hair proved most valuable. Collections of native plants prior to the post-1970 spread of Phragmites along roads have reddish-purple lower stem internodes, whereas many collected after 1970 have yellow-brown lower ste...

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb.) is a twining semi-evergreen vine native to Japan, Korea and eastern China. Over the past 150 yr it has been introduced as an ornamental and become established in temperate and tropical regions worldwide. It was first discovered in Canada in 1976 in southwestern Ontario woodlands and has since been found growing without cultivation in 15 localities. While L. japonica does not occur very frequently in southern Ontario, climate change models suggest that it may become more abundant in this region. Its predominance elsewhere derives from morphological and physiological characteristics that allow it to be particularly successful in the edge habitats of fragmented landscapes. Through extensive vegetative propagation and competitive ability it occupies space which may otherwise host a diverse native flora. The plant has many uses in Asian medicine and is a popular ornamental, but has been prohibited in some regions due to its displacement of other species. A combination of cutting and foliar application of glyphosate has proven to be an effective control method in some circumstances. Planting of L. japonica should be discouraged and horticulturalists should consider alternative attractive vines. The spread of L. japonica should be monitored in Ontario and control of newly established populations should be considered to avoid costly large scale control in the future. Key words: Invasive species, Lonicera japonica, weed biology, climate change

Analysis of declining bird populations indicates that invasive aliens are a major problem. However, in most cases the problem is visualized in terms of invasive animals and introduced diseases. The role of invasive alien plants in declining bird populations is less well known. By changing the structure and composition of vegetation and by reducing or eliminating vegetative biodiversity, alien plants can reduce food, cover and optimal nesting sites for birds. Invasive alien plants may also increase mortality and change behavior in subtle ways. The problem of invasive alien plants is sometimes not obvious and is frequently complex with regard to management. It is also widespread throughout much of North America and in many cases it threatens major native plant communities upon which native birds depend. The problem is especially evident in protected areas that are essential to bird populations and often represent the last opportunity to avoid extinction. Many biologists agree that much more researc...

Goldenseal ( Hydrastis canadensis ) is a North American perennial clonal herb highly prized for its medicinal value. It is threatened at the northern range limit with only 20 populations known in Canada. To assist recovery planning, 13 populations were sampled to model dynamics. The fate of all ramets in one square-meter was monitored from 1998 to 2001. Transition matrices were built for 2000–2001, using three stage classes based on size and reproductive status. A six-stage pooled matrix, separating established ramets from newly produced ramets, was also constructed. Recruitment by seed was not observed and therefore excluded. The average population growth rate ( λ ) was 1.062 ± 0.053, which did not significantly differ from the equilibrium value (1.0) suggesting that the northern population is stationary. However, growth rates among population samples varied largely and had wide confidence intervals. Populations with λ -values less than or close to 1.0 require environmental change to increase. Recovery of goldenseal, and possibly other woodland perennials at risk, requires intervention aimed at population size augmentation, habitat optimization, and targeted dispersal.

Although poorly known, the native dune grape, Vitis riparia Michaux var. syrticola (Fernald & Wiegand) Fernald, is a potentially important source of valuable traits for the improvement of cultivated grapes. In order to clarify its taxonomic and conservation status in Ontario and to evaluate ecological and geographic patterns, data were collected from 623 specimens from 10 herbaria. In addition, five plants referable to var. syrticola with densely hairy petioles and five referable to var. riparia with glabrous petioles were cultivated in a greenhouse under uniform mesic conditions. Although the sample was considered reliable, there was no bimodal pattern in the putatively distinctive dense pubescence to support taxonomic recognition of var. syrticola; it may be referred to simply as “the dune race.” Cultivated plants retained their initial pubescence characteristics for 3 consecutive years, suggesting that the character is relatively stable. Plants referable to the dune race with dense pubescence occurred in extremely dry and open natural habitats and occurred significantly more often than expected on shoreline sand dunes of the Great Lakes. In contrast, plants without hair or less pubescent were significantly under-represented in dry habitats and shoreline dunes. While Vitis riparia is widespread in southern Ontario, the pubescent race is restricted and has a predominantly Great-Lakes-shoreline distribution pattern. It has been reported from only 43 locations and is considered vulnerable to decline. Key words: Grape, Vitis, Ontario, germplasm protection, crop relative

This paper tests the hypothesis that disturbance simulation is beneficial for restoration of Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal) 2 years after a disturbance event. This takes into account possible delay in resource allocation to reproduction. At five deciduous woodland sites in Ontario, Canada, three disturbance simulation treatments, fertilization, soil turnover, fertilization + soil turnover, and a control were randomly applied to experimental blocks in 1999. Seeds and mature rhizomes were transplanted into each treatment plot. Seed production and seedlings were recorded in 2001. Transplants were measured and flowers and fruit recorded in 2000 and 2001. Soil turnover and fertilization + soil turnover significantly increased the production of flowers and fruit in the second year after disturbance, contrasting with lack of significance in the first year. The effect on plant size was opposite, with significantly increased cover in the first year but not the second. Soil turnover + fertilization significantly increased seed production. The disturbance treatments did not have a significant effect on number or presence of seedlings possibly due to extraordinary drought conditions. Consideration of second-year results strongly suggests that (1) substrate disturbance, in addition to canopy gaps, is an important factor in woodland herb ecology; (2) certain woodland herbs may be rare due to lack of specific disturbances which were more prevalent in the past; and (3) mature woodlands may require management, involving disturbance simulation, for the protection and restoration of certain rare woodland flora.

Having evolved in an environment with large, severe, and frequent disturbances, including massive floods, fires, and impacts of extinct and extirpated fauna, woodland herbs may be adapted to such disturbance processes. Present lack of such disturbances may contribute to present rarity. We test the hypothesis that transplanting with disturbance simulation can be used to restore the threatened woodland herb, Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal). Three disturbance-simulation treatments (soil turnover, fertilization, and both) and a control were randomly applied to 100 blocks in goldenseal habitat, and a single rhizome was transplanted into each treatment. Transplanting was effective with 85% of the transplants surviving, 41% flowering, and 34% fruiting; thus, transplanting may increase area of occupancy. Soil turnover alone and combined with fertilization caused a significant increase in plant size available to support production of fruit. Increased flower and significantly increased fruit production were also characteristic of soil-turned plots. Results support the hypothesis that some woodland herbs are rare due to lack of certain disturbance, call for consideration of soil disturbance as a potentially important and beneficial influence on woodland herbs regardless of light effects, and suggest that transplanting into soil-overturned plots may restore goldenseal. The assumption that undisturbed conditions are optimal may impede effective management of rare woodland flora, highlighting the need for a more flexible approach.

Francis Cook steps down after long and distinguished service with the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club and the Canadian Field-Naturalist