From aceska@victoria.tc.ca Fri Jul 23 08:54:19 2004 From: aceska@victoria.tc.ca (Adolf Ceska) Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 00:54:19 -0700 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 332 Message-ID: <000d01c4708a$43ff5060$48acb742@HPLAPTOP001> BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 332 July 23, 2004 aceska@victoria.tc.ca Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- BRITISH COLUMBIA BOTANISTS RESCUED A LOST GOLD MINER From: Ayesha Bhatty - CanWest News Service (July 17, 2004) [BOTANY BC meeting in Atlin turned into a life-saving mission when one group of participants found a disoriented and ex- hausted gold miner who had been attacked by wolves and became lost in woods of northern British Columbia. - AC] VANCOUVER - This was one dance with wolves Marcel Pinette wished he could have sat out. The gold miner was camping in the northwestern B.C. wilder- ness when a pack of wolves attacked and killed his dog, Buddy, then stalked and chased him through the woods for days. Luckily, he made it back to the safety of his family in Chilliwack last weekend with his terrifying tale. In late June, Pinette, 34, had been camping at Eva Lake near Atlin, B.C., 60 km south of the Yukon border. He had hiked into town and decided to return to camp by a different route in late June. This trip would prove to be the most unusual in a lifetime of hiking and camping. A few days into his hike, Pinette found himself surrounded by a wildfire. "Basically in every direction I looked, I could see smoke," said Pinette, speaking from his sister's home in Chilliwack, B.C. He decided to make camp for a few days until the fires died down. On the last night, Pinette said his dog, Buddy "went snaky" on him, growling, snapping and rolling his eyes. "It was a struggle to hold onto him." Pinette had adopted the 10-month- old Husky-Shepherd puppy he got from an animal shelter. "He was so smart ... I'd explain my plans verbally to him every morning so he'd know what we're doing," said Pinette, adding that Buddy had turned into a "total bush dog" who would dig his own holes when Pinette went prospecting, follow him along the trails, and curl up with him in a sleeping bag to share body heat during the nights. But at 3 a.m. that morning at the end of June, Buddy was attacked and killed by a pack of 10 wolves just a few metres from the tent. Pinette managed to scare the wolves away with a can of bear spray, but not in time to save his dog. "When I turned around, all I could see was two eyes in the bush," he said. For the next two hours, Pinette could hear the alpha male "clacking" his teeth. A short while later, Pinette saw a wolf's paws digging under the side of his tent. "I started hitting the paws with a hatchet," said Pinette, hoping to drive the animal away. When that didn't work, he cut a hole in the tent and used bear spray to scare them away. "I didn't want to hurt them at first," said Pinette, but eventually he went at them "full force" with the hatchet and spray, managing to hit a few. When Pinette accidentally knocked down his tent, another four or six were trapped inside, he said. "I was hacking and smashing at those too," said Pinette. "I think I managed to kill all of them." The wolves stalked him as he moved on for safety. His adrenaline pumping, Pinette took shelter in a tree. "I had my back turned (as I was climbing up the tree) and one came right up behind me and scared me," said Pinette, who dropped his hatchet and fire kit in shock. A terrified Pinette spent a day-and-a-half up the tree with no food and water, because he could still see three wolves waiting below. "I was almost ready to give up," said Pinette. The next few days were a blur. He moved towards the sounds of power saws being used by the firefighters, and finally came across a river. "I stood in the O'Donnel (River) for three hours just drinking water," he said. "Things went weird for the next few days .... I may have lost consciousness a few times," said Pinette, who estimated that he spent 10 days lost in the woods, sleeping under trees and drinking from swamps. "All I ate was one wildflower, and I spit that out because it didn't taste quite right." Pinette said he lost 35 pounds and is still 20 pounds shy of his usual 155 pounds. On the ninth day, Pinette stumbled on to a gravel road and recognized a creek. He then walked for 12 or 13 hours, and slept in an old school bus that night. The next morning, he came across a group of botanists, who rushed him to the Red Cross outpost in Atlin. A PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF ALPINE VEGETATION OF JAPAN, KURILS AND KAMCHATKA From: Nakamura Yukito (1), Pavel V. Krestov (2), and Valentine V. Yakubov (2) (1) Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan (2) Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Vladivostok, Russia Alpine vegetation above the forest limit is comprised of dwarf- shrub thickets and tall-herb meadows, which are adapted to cold temperatures. It commonly includes species related to high- latitude vegetation tundra. However, middle- latitude alpine vegetation also contains species that originated in middle latitudes on lower mountains and have adapted to alpine environ- ments. These species sometimes comprise the regional vegetation units. Most Japanese alpine vegetation is divided into regional as- sociations by local endemic species. However, these associations are based on circumpolar elements spread widely during the glacial age. Such species characterize the levels of alliance, order and class in the phytosociological hierarchy. At lower levels, circumpolar species can be divided into regional ele- ments of lower rank, and they reflect the continentality gradient in boreal zones representing so-called Boreal Continen- tal and Boreal Oceanic elements. Boreal Continental elements originated in Siberian cold and dry continental areas, and Boreal Oceanic elements originated in mild and wet oceanic coastal areas of western North America (east of Rocky Mountains, Aleutian Archipelago) and the easternmost part of Northeast Asia (Kuril and Commander Islands). Japanese alpine vegetation consists of _Carici rupestris- Kobresietea bellardii_ Ohba 1974 and _Cetrario-Loiseleurietea_ Suz.-Tok. et Umezu 1964 characterized by the circumpolar ele- ments, _Dicentro-Stellarietea nipponicae_ Ohba 1968 charac- terized by the Boreal Continental elements, and _Phyllodoco- Harrimanelletea_ Knapp 1954 characterized by the Boreal Oceanic elements. The Kamchatka Peninsula represented an important phytogeographi- cal bridge between Japan and the continents during the glacial age. Kamchatka is a border between the Boreal Continental and Boreal Oceanic elements. The alpine vegetation of three dif- ferent phytosociological types co- exists there, combining the peculiarities of the adjacent geographical areas. The Commander Islands and Kuril chain are characterized by relatively young alpine floras established on islands well- distanced from the continent after the late Pleistocene minimum. The juvenile state is continuously supported by severe oceanic climate and frequent volcanic eruptions. This leads to rela- tively low diversity in vegetation complexes expressed by the lack of _Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii_, and the pure development of _Cetrario- Loiseleurietea_ communities. The distribution pattern of actual alpine vegetation provides important information for studying the vegetation history of the Far East. The vegetation units of the area are shown in the following prodromus: _Carici-Kobresietea bellardii_ _Salici arcticae-Oxytropisietum revolutae_ _Kobresio-Oxytropisietum pumilio_ _Phyllodoco-Harrimanelletea_ _Arnica lessingii-Phyllodoce caerulea_ community _Primulo cuneifoliae-Caricetum micropodae_ _Loiseleurio-Vaccinetea_ _Artemisio arcticae-Arnicetum unalascensis_ _Vaccinio uliginosae-Empetretum nigrae_ _Dicentro-Stellarietea nipponicae_ _Pentostemon frutescens_ community _Polytrichum piliferum_ community _Saxifrago-Lagotisietum glaucae_ _Ermanio-Papaveretum microcarpi_ _Artemisia arctica_ community _Veronica grandiflora_ community _Cetrario-Loiseleurietea_ _Salicetum tschuktschorum_ _Betula nana_ community _Rhododendron camtschaticum_ community _Salici sphenophyllae-Vaccinietum vulcanidoris_ _Cassiopeo-Diapensietum lapponicae_ _Scheuchzerio-Caricetea nigrae_ _Plantagi macrocarpae-Baeothryetum caespitosum_ INTRODUCING THE COAST MOUNTAIN FIELD INSTITUTE: A NEW ORGANIZATION OFFERING FIELD-BASED EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA From: Rebecca Porte [rporte@cmfi.ca] & Terry McIntosh [ginkgo@shaw.ca] Earlier this year, the Coast Mountain Field Institute (CMFI) was established in southwestern British Columbia. CMFI is a non- profit organization designed to provide field-based educational opportunities on a wide range of topics, from botany to natural and cultural history, nature-related arts, family-oriented natural history programs, and hands-on wildlife conservation and research. Our courses employ small groups and excellent instruc- tors, and focus on engaging topics and premier destinations. They are designed to be both fun and relevant, with the ulterior motive of inspiring a continuing appreciation for the province's wild landscapes and a desire to foster stewardship for future generations. This Institute has been modeled after several field institutes in the United States. Our long range vision is provide over 50 courses a year. During our first season, we have designed seven courses, of which three have been successfully completed. We have an upcoming botanical course at Manning Park, The Secret Life of Alpine Wildflowers, which will be running in late July. We will also be exploring the natural history of Cathedral Lakes in early August, with Dick Cannings as our leader. In the fall, we are offering a natural history writing course and a course that studies the mysteries of bird and bat migration. In August, we are providing a family overnight at Skw'une-was bighouse near Brackendale. The programs promise to be interesting, infor- mative, and relevant. For a complete listing of our courses and for more information about our institute, please visit our website at http://www.cmfi.ca . As CMFI grows, we will develop many new courses and the breadth of potential topics is immense. We are actively working towards programs for 2005. If you are interested in this year's programs, or have ideas for future programming and may want to help out, please contact Rebecca Porte at rporte@cmfi.ca or by phone at 604-312-8145. Our website is found at: http://www.cmfi.ca . CD-ROM: MAP OF THE NATURAL VEGETATION OF EUROPE [RE: BEN 326] This is a long-awaited bilingual (English & German) CD-ROM version of the Map of Natural Vegetation of Europe. The English text is a full translation of the German explanatory text. Karte der natrlichen Vegetation Europas/Map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe Masstab/Scale 1:2 500 000 Interaktive/Interactive CD-ROM Erl„uterungstext, Legende, Karten Explanatory Text, Legend, Maps ISBN 3-7843-3848-8 Bundesamt fr Naturschutz/Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Technische Realisierung der CD-ROM/Technical realisation of the CD-ROM by Stephan Hennekens, Alterra, Wageningen, Netherlands Price 85.- Euros Bonn, Gemany 2004 Available from: BfN-Schriftenvertrieb im Landwirtschaftsverlag 48084 Mnster, Germany tel (+49)2501/801-300, Fax (+49) 2501/801-351 URL: www.lv-h.de/bfn With the interactive CD-ROM of the Map of Natural Vegetation of Europe, the user can get digital access to all the map and textual information published in a hard copy version (_Teil 1 to 3_). In addition, it contains a full English translation of the explanatory text that was originally published only in German. Thanks to a special software development, it allows multiple analysis and use of the comprehensive information material. BENEATH THE GARRY OAK (_QUERCUS GARRYANA_ DOUGL. EX HOOK.) From: Dave Thysell [daveth@thurston.com] While these are actually lyrics to a musical piece, they cer- tainly stand alone as an botanical and ecological poem as well. As a former botanist/writer who once worked for Dr. Andy Carey at the Olympia Forestry Science Lab, and who has authored a few pieces of scientific literature (one of which looked at Garry Oak communities on Ft. Lewis--N.W. Science 75: 219-235), I have now moved on to different work and to a different focus. As the attached original piece, _Beneath the Garry Oak_, demonstrates, my focus has turned to the use of lyrics and poetry to bring attention to, and educate people about, ecological matters. _Beneath the Garry Oak_ Copyright 2004 by D. R. Thysell January 21, 2004 >From the Fraser through the Puget Trough and down Columbia way, up the Willamette, across the Rogue, around San Francisco Bay. In seas of green were islands, of camas and crimson and gold. This was the land of the Garry Oak, its story here is told. Once, it wasn't long ago, a very few hundred years. Yes, once, up and down the coast, before the hungry pioneers. In seas of green were islands, where salmon and oak did abound, and meadows and savannahs and the baffling Mima mounds. We live our lives the best we can beneath the Garry Oak. Day after swiftly changing day of questioning and hope. The woodlands, once so plentiful, now fading into memory, Living our lives the best we can beneath the Garry Oak. >From Victoria and the San Juan Isles to near Los Angeles. Up an over the Cascade crest far from the ocean breeze. In seas of green were islands, where kinsmen gathered, it seems. Beneath and because of the Garry Oak, and salmon-filled emerald streams. Not so very long ago the woodlands transformed. Prairies to pasture, changes now faster than evolutionary norm. In seas of green are islands invaded, engulfed, and ignored. Beneath the oaks lies a challenging question: "Can they be restored?" We'll live our lives the best we can beneath the Garry Oak. Year after rapidly changing year of struggle and of hope. The meadows hemmed with ancient oaks now vanishing beneath the sea of green, yet what of the acorn cache beneath the Garry Oak? When western shores were settled, about ten thousand years ago. The Garry Oak abided, where, exactly, we'll probably never know. In seas of green were islands that fire certainly spawned. Flames on the prairies combating Doug-fir, oak's long indispensable bond. The oaks have stood the test of time till not so long ago. Canopies that for centuries held wonders we'll now never know. If just one ancient oak could talk, what would it have to say? Or should, instead, we question who would listen, here, today? The oaks would surely ask us who would listen here, today. But we're living our lives the best we can beneath the Garry Oak. Centuries and centuries of agonizing hope. Barely free from ice's grip, on gravelly plain and precipice. Living its life the best it can: the stately Garry Oak. >From the Fraser through the Puget Trough and down Columbia Way. And if just one ancient oak could talk, what would it have to say? This is the land of the Garry Oak, its story now is told. ________________________________________________________________ Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l Send submissions to aceska@victoria.tc.ca BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ ________________________________________________________________ From aceska@victoria.tc.ca Fri Jul 30 17:11:22 2004 From: aceska@victoria.tc.ca (Adolf Ceska) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 09:11:22 -0700 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 333 Message-ID: <000001c4764f$e0a39f50$48acb742@HPLAPTOP001> BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 333 July 30, 2004 aceska@victoria.tc.ca Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- CANADA'S ENVIRONMENT LOSES KEY ALLY IN RESHUFFLING From: Joel Connelly, columnist - Seattle Post-Intelligencer [joelconnelly@seattlepi.com] (Friday, July 23, 2004) Out on the West coast of Vancouver Island, four essentials made for one of life's great afternoons: The presence of my sweetie, good red wine, a lonesome beach and the Pacific Ocean. We hiked down the West Coast Trail out of Bamfield for about five miles, used ropes to descend a muddy slope, and reveled in a seascape of rocks and surf, eagles and seals. Pacific Rim National Park has other joys. Several friends have kayaked through the Broken Islands. Families experience the surf of Long Beach and tide pools of Florencia Bay. The town of Tofino rocks. Trekkers do the full 50-mile West Coast Trail, a route originally laid out to save lives of seafarers wrecked on the wild coast. The person we could thank for the experience was a slightly stuffy politician from Victoria, who successfully campaigned for the national park after being elected to Canada's House of Commons in 1968. The time to thank David Anderson is now. After an up-and-down career -- the last 11 years in the federal Cabinet -- Anderson lost his position as Canada's environment minister when Prime Minister Paul Martin unveiled his new Cabinet on July 20, 2004. He is out of the Cabinet, but still in Parliament. "It's awful important when people try to do the right thing, you give them a bit of credit," John Fraser, a former Speaker of the House of Commons and political foe of Anderson, reflected. Others were joyous that Anderson got the boot. "New Cabinet Opens Door to Offshore Drilling," headlined The Province in Vancouver. The British Columbia government is gung-ho to drill for oil in waters off the Queen Charlotte Islands. In order for the drilling platforms to go in, Canada's federal government will have to lift a 33-year moratorium on drilling off the West Coast. Anderson was a voice of restraint, in Fraser's words, "insisting that proper environmental and scientific studies be done in advance" and that oil companies pay for independent evaluation. The new minister, Stephane Dion, is from Quebec and has little experience with environmental issues. A Nova Scotia lawmaker was named minister of fisheries and oceans. Anderson was fisheries minister in the 1990s and helped pull off -- with Gov. Gary Locke -- settlement of the long-running Pacific salmon dispute between the United States and Canada. Both men traded risks. Despite an uproar from commercial and sport fishers, Anderson curtailed the catch of endangered chinook and coho salmon bound for Puget Sound rivers. In turn, Locke kept U.S. fishermen from catching sockeye salmon from the so-called "early Stuart" run, which migrates more than 850 miles upstream in the Fraser River system. Locke's action may have saved the run: Warm water conditions were causing record instream mortality. Direct negotiations between a Canadian Cabinet member and a U.S. governor were unusual. "It was strange," recalled Locke. "Backstage, the White House was encouraging us while the State Department was saying, 'You can't do this.' Ultimately our ad- hoc agreements provided the impetus for a U.S.-Canada treaty." "David took a lot of heat on it. We had to run a gauntlet of jeers when we made the announcement up north. I enjoyed working with him." Of course, Anderson could also be a knucklehead. He would hear no objection to Victoria dumping 11 million gallons of raw sewage each day into the Strait of Juan de Fuca: Even as the area closed to shellfishing grew, the environment minister held fast to Canadians' curious doctrine that the solution to pollution is dilution. The minister was never a man to humor. A furious phone call from Victoria greeted me after a Channel 9 show in which one panelist joked that the Canadian government should deal with Victoria sewage in its upcoming Speech from the Throne. Similarly, Anderson was visibly angered at attention-seeking Greenpeacers, and protests from everybody-is-a-sellout-but-us environmentalists complaining that he wasn't moving fast enough on endangered species or air emissions. It's always much easier to hurl spears in protest than to carry the shield of authority. South of the border, on the day Anderson was being bounced from the Cabinet, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional boss John Iani announced his departure. Iani will be remembered for standing up to a Canadian mining giant, Teck Cominco, whose smelter in Trail, B.C., has discharged pollutants downstream into our Lake Roosevelt. Teck Cominco launched a public relations blitz that collected the usual industry allies -- local county commissioners and the three Republican members of Washington's congressional delegation. EPA has insisted, however, that under U.S. law it has final authority over the scope of contamination studies and the measures undertaken to clean up the lake. Iani has also shown courage standing up to local politicians who resisted cleanup of mine wastes in Idaho's Silver Valley. It's a pretty fair record, in an administration that has repeatedly kowtowed to polluters. Up north, the dominant new British Columbia voice in Canada's Cabinet belongs to Industry Minister David Emerson. He was until recently chief executive at Canfor, one of the province's major forest products firms. Early statements by Emerson indicate that the Canadian and B.C. governments will now push ahead to put drilling platforms off the Queen Charlottes. Hecate Strait is a notoriously stormy place. Several prominent scientists, noting clockwise tidal movement, warn that a blowout spill could foul beaches, islands and estuaries along many miles of the north coast. David Anderson is without a seat at the Cabinet table. He still has a platform in Parliament. Hopefully, he will do something that was verboten as a government minister. Raise hell! [For a short biography of David Anderson see BEN # 319] STEPHANE DION - NEW CANADIAN MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/martin_paul/cabinet2004.html#dion Portfolio: Minister of the Environment Past Portfolios: president of Privy Council, minister of federal-provincial relations (1996-2003). Co-ordinator of issues related to official languages (2001-03). Education: BA and MA, PhD Dion was born Oct. 28, 1955 in Quebec City. He was elected in the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville in 1996, 1997 and 2000. Dion is a specialist in public administration, organization analysis and has published a number of books and articles. He taught political science at the Universite de Moncton in 1984 and the Universite de Montreal from 1984 to January 1996. During the same period, Dion was also a senior research fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. [cf. http://www.brookings.edu/index/about.htm ], co-director of the Canadian Journal of Political Science, and research fellow with the Canadian Centre for Management Development [now called Canada School of Public Service - cf. http://www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca/main_e.html ] Between 1987 and 1995, he published a number of books and articles on political science, public administration and management. [Some of Stephane Dion's books: Blais, Andre & Stephane Dion [eds.] 1991. _The budget-maximizing bureaucrat: appraisals and evidence_. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh. Blais, Andre, Donald E. Blake, & Stephane Dion. 1997. _Governments, Parties, and Public Sector Employees: Canada, United States, Britain, and France_. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal. Dion, Stephane. 1999._Straight talk : on Canadian unity_. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal. - [Collection of speeches delivered 1996-1998.] HEMEROPHYTA - A SPECIAL CASE OF INVASIVE ORGANISMS From: Thomas Gladis [th.gladis@web.de], Univ. Gh Kassel- Witzenhausen, Steinstr. 11, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Germany & ZADI, Dept. IGR, Villichgasse 17, 53177 Bonn, Germany Gladis, Th., N. Arrowsmith and K. Hammer 2001. Hemerophyta - a special case of invasive organisms. In Hammer, K. und Th. Gladis (eds.) _Nutzung genetischer Ressourcen - Oekologischer Wert der Biodiversitaet_. Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen, ZADI Bonn. Vol. 16 pp. 23-29. [abridged for BEN] Definition: The term Hemerophyta includes all plants of any area, directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally distributed, protected or supported by man, including those that are cultivated, domesticated, reared, bred or kept in captivity. See Wagenitz, G., 1996: _Woerterbuch der Botanik_. Fischer, Jena, 531 p. Abstract The complexity of crop plant research is demonstrated by three examples of plants with different histories, values and perspectives in agriculture: the roses, an ancient leek and a tropical weed species. An awareness of human influence on diversity and our ability to cause global changes will hopefully induce more sensibility in managing the environment. Introduction Growing numbers of plants and animals are distributed throughout the world by human activities. Within the plants, regarding their degree of hemeroby, we distinguish between cultivated plants or crops, weeds and wild plants. Primary crops have been derived from wild plants by selection, cultivation and direct domestication. Secondary crops developed from crop-mimetic weeds, i.e. from co-domesticated wild plants (convergent type). The non-convergently evolved weeds have largely disappeared from utilization (Scholz 1996). Secondary weeds are derived from populations of former crops (Spahillari et al. 1999). In some cases, all the abovementioned groups may be present within one single plant species. This illustrates that the indication of hemerobic or synanthropic organisms and the differentiation of levels of synanthropy, such as a-, oligo-, meso- and eu- hemeroby, are still difficult to distinguish. The longer the processes of co-evolution continue, the closer the connection becomes between plants, humans, and human culture. Cultivated plant populations with dependence on human interest for permanent cultivation are named Ergasiophyta (Kowarik 1985, Sukopp 1995). These plants may have wild ancestors, wild, feral or weedy relatives, but themselves do nor have any native growing habitat, neither they are part of native living communities and natural vegetation except such areas influenced or created by man. The term Hemerophyta is introduced here to define the group of plants, grown, planted, promoted or sown by man. This group of plants contains weeds (segetalia, ruderalia), crops, forestry plants, ornamental, park and garden plants, gene bank accessions, material from botanic gardens. As long as they grow under human supervision, they are not considered to be wildgrowing. In contrast to Neobiota (see below), the term Neo- Hemerophyta should be limited to plants during their process of adaptation to new conditions and locations. Established populations, permanently used and annually grown crops would not retain the prefix "Neo" in the respective environment. Feral, or escaping populations are also not called Hemerophyta. Human individuals, families and populations intercross, migrate and trade, hence the plants intercross with their relatives. Hybridization and introgressions from wild to cultivated plants and vice versa occur spontaneously. The selecting pressures in the respective populations are quite different. In native communities, the fitness of individuals with crop characters is reduced. In farms and gardens, plants with wild characters are weeded out and not used for seed production. Plants and seeds are distributed actively by man (crops) or passively (weeds, wild plants) and present in their strong dependence on human culture are special cases of invasive Neobiota. When the new crops are integrated into agriculture in the new environment or if they can escape and grow spontaneously at new localities, new populations, subspecies and even new species may be generated and distributed this way. The most synanthropic plants are potential adventitious organisms and thus - as far as the environmental conditions do not limit their further dispersal - even cosmopolitans, using man with his travel, culture and domesticated animals as vector for their own distribution (hemerochorous and anthropochorous organisms). Among other categories, autochthonous (or indigenous, apophytes) and allochthonous (adventitious) plants are distinguished in plant geography. Unfortunately, the terminology is insufficient to clarify the situation of cultivated plants in detail as the following examples illustrate. Tomatoes (_Lycopersicon esculentum_) and garden beans (_Phaseolus vulgaris_) originate from the Americas (at the species level) and have their primary centers of diversity there. In gardens of Africans, Asians, Australians and Europeans, they are neophytic Ergasiophyta and have replaced other vegetables or reduced their respective growing areas since about 1500. At present they are Hemerophyta in all mentioned parts of the world. The farmers, gardeners and later on the plant breeders here have selected the plants quite differently. Thus, they developed new characters and new diversity in these so called secondary centers of diversity, without having counterparts in the primary centers. However, the question arises, whether it is justified to name infraspecific plant groups like these or e.g. allotetraploid crop species like rape (_Brassica napus_) homeless, Xenophyta, Anecophyta or Indigenophyta anthropogena (see Sukopp & Scholz 1997), since their places of origin are not exactly known and they do not occur in native vegetation? How does the locality of origin or creation influence the future growing area of a crop - including genetic modified organisms (transgenic cultigens) - or how might it determine the size of a potential growing territory of any wild plant? As the examples illustrate, the term "Neophyta" is defined for and occupied by "new" plants, established in vegetation after 1500. How long do Neobiota and Neocenoses (Kowarik 1985) remain "new"? In other words, which term should be applied to really new plants and plant communities or those with the potential to invade native or agricultural systems 500 years after 1492? In dimensions of annuals, this means 500 generations later. To illustrate potentials, chances, our lack of knowledge and missing systematics in terminology even in crop plant research, three cases of plants are described below. The present status and perspectives in Germany are discussed here in brief for a genus of ornamental plants, for a traditional vegetable from the leek group, and for a tropical weed species. Roses (Genus _Rosa_) The "queen of the flowers" is an excellent example for a taxonomically very complicated genus, containing wild plants, originating from the northern hemisphere and their nowadays widely spread cultivated descendants. Many of the 100-200 wild species intercross and have a remarkable infraspecific variation. The beautiful, sweet smelling flowers are a symbol for love and _joie de vivre_ since ancient times. Roses are cultivated as ornamentals but they are also grown for practical uses: the thorny shrubs are planted in hedges against soil erosion, the fragrant flowers are collected to produce attar of roses, rosewater and perfumes, and the fruit is used for jam, tea, medicinal or pharmaceutical purposes. Young sprouts, leaves and buds are consumed as vegetables in some regions of the world. To describe, to classify and to maintain the continuously evolving diversity of roses (infrageneric Neo-Hemerophyta) is a Sisyphian task. For more than 100 years, interested people have systematically collected wild and cultivated roses and have maintained old and new rose varieties in special rosaria and gardens for roses. One of the most famous collections is the European Rosarium in Sangerhausen, founded by the German Roses Society in 1903. Thousands of old and new roses grow side by side there, and each sown seed sample bears new diversity. But the material is strictly propagated vegetatively. Recent breeding aims in roses are e.g. to increase the content of vitamins in the fruit and to reach new colors (blue). The onion-leek from Ascalon (_Allium ascalonicum_ Strand?) This plant is a relic crop with quite doubtful nomenclature and classification. It is frequently confused or mixed with potato onion and shallots (Tittel 1986). Originating from the Southern Mediterranean area (Israel/Palestine?), it is an extremely rare allochthonous crop in Germany. Probably introduced by the crusaders, it is perhaps extinct in the area of origin and has a very disjunct distribution today. One of the isolated locations where this species can be found is in Germany. The plants found in Germany are morphologically quite uniform. They are grown in vineyard terraces around the city of Stuttgart only. For several hundred years it was not mentioned and perhaps forgotten by scientists (Gladis 1996, Gladis and Bross-Burkhardt 2000). The ‘shallot-leek’ perhaps might be related to or be developed through influence with common onion (_Allium cepa_). It strongly differs from onion by its specific aroma, its perennial growth in dwarf bunches developing from very small, frequently dividing subterranean bulbs and by having two growing seasons per year. Adapted to summer drought and to frost, the leaves die in June and late autumn. During winter, they start to grow again. The foliage is used to prepare special dishes and these are consumed in spring only. Dispersal by escaping to the wild and even to the cultivated environment is not possible. The plant does bears neither seeds nor bulbils; it is just vegetatively propagated by dividing the slow growing bunches. Since it can not compete with other crops and weeds , is completely dependent on careful cultivation in special climatic and soil conditions, has never been a market crop, and is constantly losing growing area, it has become a highly endangered species. Losing the status of an hemerophytic species, it will be extinct very soon. The scientific comparison of all available and related material is of great interest in order to find out whether plants that are principally vegetatively propagated are able to adapt to specific climate conditions, to modify their habit,and if genetic distances within and between populations have developed within the last thousand years. Initial research work on this leek group has yielded interesting results (Friesen and Klaas 1998) and should be continued. Witchweed [_Striga hermonthica_ (Del.) Benth.] Ladizinsky (1987) demonstrated that the patterns of pulse domestication are completely different from the evolution of cereals in the same region. In analogy, different domestication patterns should be estimated for selection of e.g. vegetables, spices and ornamentals too. There exist few cases of rare and endangered annual weeds in Europe, which are frequently used and grown as ornamentals now: the corn cockle and a related wild species (_Agrostemma githago_, _A. brachylobum_), the cornflower (_Centaurea cyanus_), and the cut and drying flower _Bupleurum rotundifolium_ should be mentioned here. Changes in fashion require frequent changes in ornamentals. Breeders on the one hand have to follow these changes, on the other hand they are free to influence next season’s fashion by providing new and attractive colours, flower forms and habits. _Striga hermonthica_ and related species (Scrophulariaceae) are common and dangerous weeds e.g. in dry and semi dry areas in Africa. The plants are obligatory parasites on roots of _Sorghum_, cereals, millets and grasses, grown in excessively utilized, poor and eroded soil and are supported by cultivation measures. They are comparable to secondary parasites. International research programs on these weeds try to reduce infection rates, to find native antagonists, to interrupt reproductive cycles and to stop seed distribution (Kroschel et al. 1999). Quite new is the aspect of attractiveness of this plant. The danger of infection of European fields may be excluded by the extremely high germination temperature. Together with tropical grasses, _Striga hermonthica_ might be developed as a fascinating new ornamental in urban areas. Plant breeders will include this species into their breeding programs (Kroschel & Gladis 2000). In Europe, the cultivation of this weed has not yet left the experimental phase. Prospects The situation of mankind and that of plant genetic resources in past and present justify the fear of ongoing marginalization of neglected and underutilized crops (Hammer and Heller 1998). Many of the less important cultivated plants will be extinct in the near future if they are not maintained ex situ - in gene banks and in botanical gardens. Unfortunately, financial support for research on the described subject strongly depends on the applied technology, not on the package of questions. The tendency toward uniform arable land, culture and crop plants consumed by mankind will increase during advanced globalization. Human influence on plant and animal diversity and his ability to cause global changes in climatic conditions, in soil and in water chemistry will hopefully induce a greater sense of responsibility in managing the environment and will lead to consideration of alternative economic models. Therefore, it is necessary to reassert the moral objective of stewardship and to incorporate ecological science into policy. In addition to that Roughgarden (1995) demands: - Economic theory must be fundamentally improved to take account of the dynamic changes in the environment that different policies make. - Economists have to respect consumer sovereignty concerning environmental goods and services. - They have to distance themselves from their irresponsibility fringe. We do not know enough about our own systems of economics and values to make any prognoses regarding sustainable use and maintenance of biodiversity on earth. If economists take costs into account in setting environmental or other objectives, they should also look at the costs for benefits lost forever. Hemerophyta are the most suitable, preconditioned plant group for research and use. Each further loss in their diversity will be more difficult to compensate than the previous. References Friesen, N. and M. Klaas 1998. Origin of some minor vegetatively propagated _Allium_ crops studied with RAPD and GISH. _GRACE _45: 511-523. Gladis, Th. 1996. Vorkommen und potentielle Nutzung von seltenen Gemüsearten und sorten. _Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen_ 2: 72-82. Gladis, Th. und B. Bross-Burkhardt 2000 (poster presentation). Der Eschlauch in Deutschland – angepflanzt und vergessen, gesucht und wiedergefunden. Zwiebel 2000 München, 15.-25. September 2000, Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg / 3. Tag der Kulturpflanze am 01. Oktober 2000 im Museum Kiekeberg (Hamburg), GfP-Tagung Witzenhausen, 23.-24. November 2000; printed version: _Samensurium_ 11 (2000): 20-24. Hammer, K. and J. Heller 1998. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. _Schriften zu genetischen Ressourcen_ 8: 223-227. Kowarik, I. 1985. zum Begriff "Wildpflanzen" und zu den Bedin- gungen und Auswirkungen der Einbuergerung hemerochorer Arten. _Publ. Naturhist. Gen. Limburg_ 35, 3-4: 8-25. Kroschel, J., H. Mercer-Quarshie and J. Sauerborn (eds.) 1999. _Advances in parasitic weed control at on-farm level_. 2 Vols, GTZ, Marggraf Verlag, 324+347 pp. Kroschel, J. und Th. Gladis 2000 (poster presentation). _Striga hermonthica_ (Del.) Benth. – Zierde, Plage und Herausfor- derung fuer den Pflanzenbau. Zierpflanzensymposium Koenigswinter, 27.-28. September 2000, GfP-Tagung Witzen- hausen, 23.-24. November 2000. .bibl Ladizinsky, G. 1987. Pulse domestication before cultivation. _Econ. Bot._ 41,1: 60-65. Roughgarden, J. 1995. Can economics protect biodiversity? pp. 149-155 in: T. M. Swanson (ed.): _The economics and ecology of biodiversity decline: The forces driving global change_. Cambridge Univ. Press, 162 p. Saouma, E. 1994. Foreword. In: Hernández Bermejo, J. E. and J. Leon (eds.) _Neglected crops. 1492 from a different perspective_. FAO Plant Prod. and Protect. Ser. No. 26, 341 p. Scholz, H. 1996. Origins and evolution of obligatory weeds. (in german with engl. summary) _Schriften zu Genetischen Ressour- cen_ 4: 109-129. Spahillari, M., K. Hammer, Th. Gladis & A. Diederichsen 1999. Weeds as part of agrobiodiversity. _Outlook on Agriculture_ 28,4: 227-232. Sukopp, H. 1995. Neophytie und Neophytismus. pp. 3-32 in: Boecker, R., H. Gebhardt, W. Konold und S. Schmidt-Fischer (Hrsg.): _Gebietsfremde Pflanzenarten_. Landsberg. Sukopp, H. und H. Scholz 1997. Herkunft der Unkräuter. _Osnabruecker Naturwiss. Mitt._ 23: 327-333. Tittel, C. 1986. Liliaceae. In: Schultze-Motel, J. (Hrsg.): _Rudolf Mansfelds Kulturpflanzen-Verzeichnis_. Akademie- Verlag Berlin, Vol. 3: 1341-1368. BLACKBURN PRESS - BOTANICAL PUBLICATIONS From: Andrea Herbert [AHerbert@BlackburnPress.com] The Blackburn Press concentrates on bringing classic scientific and technical books back into print. We make an occasional foray into printing new books, and one of those titles is on this list: Woody Plants for the Central and Northern Prairies. I have put together a list of our plant-related titles (below), with the author's name and a link to the page of our web site where you will find further information about each book. Many of our books have multiple classifications, so these books will have been scattered on the web site among biology, botany, ecology, forestry and even archaeology. _A Theory of Forest Dynamics: The Ecological Implications of Forest Succession Models_, by Herman H. Shugart, http://www.blackburnpress.com/theoroffordy.html _Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology_, by Dieter Mueller- Dombois and Heinz Ellenberg, http://www.blackburnpress.com/aimandmetofv.html _Applied Forest Tree Improvement_, by Bruce Zobel and John Talbert, http://www.blackburnpress.com/apfotrim.html _Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southwestern United States_, by Donovan S. Correll and Helen B. Correll, http://www.blackburnpress.com/aqandwetplan.html _Classic Papers in Horticultural Science_, by Jules Janick, http://www.blackburnpress.com/claspapinhor.html _Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America_, by Lucy Braun, http://www.blackburnpress.com/noname.html _Flora of Indiana_, by Charles C. Deam, http://www.blackburnpress.com/floraofindiana.html _Genetics and Conservation : A Reference Manual for Managing Wild Animal and Plant Populations_, edited by Christine M. Schonewald, Steven M. Chambers, Bruce MacBryde and W. Lawrence Thomas, http://www.blackburnpress.com/geandco.html _Introduction to Bryology_, by W. B. Schofield, http://www.blackburnpress.com/intobryol.html _Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs Hardy in North America Exclusive of the Subtropical and Warmer Temperate Regions_, by Alfred Rehder, http://www.blacburnpress.com/manofcultree.html _Mosses: Utah and the West_, by Seville Flowers, http://www.blackburnpress.com/moutandwe.html _Perspectives on Plant Competition_, edited by James B. Grace and David Tilman, http://www.blackburnpress.com/peonplco.html _Plant and Crop Modelling: A Mathematical Approach to Plant and Crop Physiology_, by John H. M. Thornley and Ian R. Johnson, http://www.blackburnpress.com/biobook1.html _Plant Structure: Function and Development_, by J.A. Romberger, Z. Hejnowicz, and J.F. Hill, http://www.blackburnpress.com/plstfuandde.html _The Growing Plant Cell Wall_, by Stephen C. Fry, http://www.blackburnpress.com/growplancelw.html _The Textbook of Pollen Analysis_ - IV Edition, by Knut Faegri, Johs. Iversen, Peter Emil Kaland and Knut Krzywinski, http://www.blackburnpress.com/texofpolaniv.html _Tree Rings and Climate_, by H.C. Fritts, http://www.blackburnpress.com/trerinandcli.html _Vegetation of New Zealand_, by Peter Wardle, http://www.blackburnpress.com/vegofnewzeal.html _Woody Plants for the Central and Northern Prairies_, by Walter Thaine Bagley and Richard K. Sutton, http://www.blackburnpress.com/woodplanforc.html _Woody-Plant Seed Manual_, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, http://www.blackburnpress.com/woodplanseed.html Our address: The Blackburn Press Publishers of classic scientific and technical books P.O.Box 287, Caldwell, N.J., 07006 U.S.A. Phone: 973-228-7077 Fax: 973-228-7276 Explore the latest additions to our list at http://www.BlackburnPress.com All of our books are available at Amazon.com ________________________________________________________________ Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l Send submissions to aceska@victoria.tc.ca BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ ________________________________________________________________