From aceska at telus.net Thu Dec 3 18:53:01 2009 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf & Oluna Ceska) Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 10:53:01 -0800 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 418 Message-ID: <005d01ca7449$d70e3e70$852abb50$@net> 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 =20 No. 418 December 3, 2009 =20 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- INVASIVE COMMON REED (_PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS_ (CAV.) TRIN. EX STEUD = SUBSP. _AUSTRALIS_): FIRST RECORD FOR MANITOBA AND THE CANADIAN PRAIRIES From: Eric Snyder, Biodiversity Conservation Biologist, Biodiversity = Section, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 300 Water Street, = Peterborough, Ontario K9J 8M5 Eric.Snyder@ontario.ca =20 Introduction This is a note on what appears to be the first observation of the = invasive European lineage of Common Reed (_Phragmites australis_ (Cav.) = Trin. ex Steud subsp. _australis_) in the Canadian Prairie Provinces. = To place this observation in context, I commence with a very brief = summary of the literature on the known distribution of invasive Common = Reed in Canada. I then provide the details of recent observations made = in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In conclusion, I offer a few remarks on the = potential impacts of invasive Common Reed in the Canadian Prairies. Canadian Distribution Less than a decade ago, it came to be recognized that two subspecies of = the arundineceous grass, _Phragmites australis_ (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud., = occur in Canada. One of these, the endemic North American Common Reed, = has very recently been classified as _Phragmites australis_ (Cav.) Trin. = ex Steud. subsp. _americanus_ Saltonstall, P.M. Peterson and Soreng = (Saltonstall _et al._ 2004). The other, which has been shown to be of = Eurasian origin, has been referred to _Phragmites australis_ (Cav.) = Trin. ex Steud. subsp. _australis_ (Catling 2006, 2007a). It is often = called European Common Reed or invasive Common Reed. Several field = characters have been identified by means of which these two subspecies = can be differentiated (Catling _et al._ 2007; cf. Catling _et al._ 2003, = Catling 2007a, Robichaud and Catling 2003). =20 Knowledge of the respective distributions of the two subspecies in = Canada has progressed at almost the same pace as the understanding of = how to differentiate them. The native Common Reed has been found to = occur in all Canadian provinces and territories except the Yukon, = Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador (CBIF 2007). The invasive Common = Reed was initially recognized in southern Ontario and Quebec. It was = then confirmed to be in the British Columbia interior, a small number of = stands having established within the Okanagan Valley (Martin 2003, = Schueler _et al._ 2003). Finally, its distribution in the Maritime = Provinces was described, where it occurs at Stephenville in = Newfoundland, Beaver Dam and Sackville in New Brunswick, and several = localities in Nova Scotia (Catling _et al._ 2004). The best = representation of its distribution in these provinces is probably that = given by the Google Earth map which can be generated from the CBIF = (2007) _Phragmites of Canada_ database. (See in this issue: Catling and = Mitrow, Canadian _Phragmites Database =E2=80=93 Update Notes for Use_.) Observations in Winnipeg What is the situation in the Canadian Prairie Provinces? The endemic = North American Common Reed is widespread in the eastern prairie and = boreal zones of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta (CBIF 2007). Until = recently, the invasive Common Reed has been unknown from these areas. = (See in this issue: Catling and Mitrow, _Where is the Invasive Alien = Phragmites Going in Canada_.) However, on 15 October 2009, I observed a = stand of over a hundred plants growing in the city of Winnipeg, = Manitoba. As is often the case in other provinces, the stand was found in a = roadside ditch within an urbanized commercial area. It was discovered = in the Fort Garry section of the city, on the western side of Route 90, = north of Route 155: 49.8263=C2=B0 N. 97.2066=C2=B0 W. UTM coordinates = are 14U 0628984 5520862 (WGS 84). Most of the plants had inflorescences and approximately twenty five had = reached anthesis. Unlike native plants, observed the same day between = Winnipeg and the Ontario border, these plants were not yet senescing. I was able to document this occurrence with both photographs and = specimens. The former have been accessioned in the National Vascular = Plant Herbarium (DAO) and the latter will be in the near future. A second stand of invasive Common Reed is suspected on the south side of = Highway 17, approximately ten minutes drive east of Winnipeg where road = construction was taking place on the date of observation. Traffic = conditions did not permit a closer investigation of this occurrence. =20 Conclusion The introduced Common Reed has been recognized as a top priority = invasive alien plant of natural habitats in Canada (Catling 2005). It = is known to displace native wetland vegetation in the Great Lakes and = Saint Lawrence River regions of this country (Gilbert _et al._ 2009, = Lavoie _et al._ 2003, Wilcox _et al._ 2003). Similar impacts may be = expected in prairie wetlands, including potholes, deltas and fens. This = in turn might have significant impacts on the waterfowl species that = depend on these habitats. To prevent these outcomes, reconnaissance should be undertaken along the = roadside ditches of major highways and high traffic routes in urban = areas of southern Manitoba to assess the extent of the invasion. It may = still be possible to eliminate invasive Common Reed stands as they = develop. Without a well-organized control program, the grass became a = serious problem in eastern North America within a decade. Acknowledgements Dr. Paul Catling very kindly provided remarks on the first draft of this = article and assisted in arrangements for its publication in _BEN - = Botanical Electronic News_. Literature Cited Blossey, B. 2002. Replacement of native North American _Phragmites australis_ by = introduced invasive genotypes. =20 _BEN - Botanical Electronic News_ 284.=20 http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben284.html (Accessed October = 2009) Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility (CBIF). 2007.=20 _Phragmites_ of Canada. Database in _Species Access: Canadian specimen = =09 information network_. Accessible at =09 http://secretariat.mirror.gbif.org/datasets/resource/526/ =09 (Accessed October 2009) Catling, P. M. 2005. =20 New =E2=80=9Ctop of the list=E2=80=9D invasive plants of natural = habitats in Canada. _BEN - Botanical Electronic News_ 345. = http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben345.html =20 Catling, P. M. 2006.=20 Notes on the lectotypification of _Phragmites berlandieri_ and = identification of North American _Phragmites_. _BEN - Botanical = Electronic News_ 366. = http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben366.html (Accessed October = 2009) Catling, P. M. 2007a. =20 Additional notes on the identification of alien _Phragmites_ in Canada. = _BEN - Botanical Electronic News_ 370. = http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben370.html (Accessed October = 2009) Catling, P. M. 2007b. =20 Canadian _Phragmites_ database =E2=80=93 notes for use. _BEN - = Botanical Electronic News_ 370. = http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben370.html (Accessed October = 2009) Catling, P. M., G. Mitrow, L. Black and S. Carbyn. 2004.=20 Status of the alien race of Common Reed (_Phragmites australis_) in the = Canadian Maritime Provinces. _BEN - Botanical Electronic News_ 324.=20 http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben324.html (Accessed October = 2009) Catling, P. M., G. Mitrow and L. Black. 2007.=20 Analysis of stem color for grouping _Phragmites_ taxa in eastern = Ontario and an evaluation of lower glume and ligule length for = separating stem color groups. _Rhodora_ 109(938): 125-136. Catling, P.M., F.W. Schueler, L. Robichaud, and B. Blossey. 2003. =20 More on _Phragmites_ - native and introduced races. _Bull. Can. Bot. = Assoc._ 36(1): 4-7.=20 Gilbert, J. M. L. Bennett, F. Letourneau, K. McLean, R. Drouin and B. = Locke. 2009. =20 _McLean Marsh Pilot Project: Managing the Invasive alien species = _Phragmites australis_ssp. _australis_ (Common Reed) in a Lake Erie = coastal wetland, Rondeau Bay, Ontario_. Ontario Ministry of Natural = Resources, Lake Erie Management Unit OMNR #52528 Lavoie, C., M. Jean, F. Delisle and G. Letourneau. 2003.=20 Exotic plant species of the St. Lawrence River wetlands: a spatial and = historical analysis. _Journal of Biogeography_ 30: 537-549.=20 Martin, M. 2003.=20 Common Reed (_Phragmites australis_) in the Okanagan Valley, British = Columbia, Canada. _BEN - Botanical Electronic News_ 318.=20 http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben318.html (Accessed October = 2009) Robichaud, L. and P. M. Catling. 2003.=20 Potential value of glume length in differentiating native and alien = races of Common Reed, _Phragmites australis_. _BEN - Botanical = Electronic News_ 310. = http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben310.html (Accessed October = 2009) Saltonstall, K. 2002.=20 Cryptic invasion by non-native genotype of the common reed, _Phragmites = australis_, into North America. _Proc Natl. Acad. U.S.A._ 99: 2445-2449. = Saltonstall, K., Peterson, P. M. and Soreng, R. J. 2004.=20 Recognition of _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _americanus_ (Poaceae: = Arundinoideae) in North America: evidence from morphological and genetic = analysis. _Sida_ 21(2): 683-692.=20 Schueler, F. W., A. Karstad and J. H. Schueler. 2003. =20 Non-native _Phragmites communis_ in British Columbia. _BEN - Botanical = Electronic News_ 315. = http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben315.html =20 Wilcox, K. L., S. A. Petrie, L. A. Maynard & S. W. Meyer. 2003.=20 Historical distribution and abundance of _Phragmites australis_ at Long = Point, Lake Erie, Ontario. _Journal of Great Lakes Research_ 29(4): = 664-680.=20 AN INFORMATION BASE FOR _PHRAGMITES_ WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO CANADA = AND RECENT WORK =20 From: Gis=C3=A8le Mitrow & Paul M. Catling, Agriculture and Agri-Food = Canada, Environmental Health, Biodiversity, Saunders Bldg., Central = Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 Canada catlingp@agr.gc.ca=20 =20 =20 We frequently receive requests for information on _Phragmites_ in = Canada. Useful major published compilations have been produced by Haslam = (1958) and Mal and Narine (2004), but this was in advance of the = realization that the rapid invasion of _Phragmites_ was a result of a = foreign genotype rather than simply the spread of the native genotype. = As _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_ has spread through eastern = North America, it has attracted much attention and the number of = articles and reports that mention it has increased sharply. Consequently = much recent work that compares the two genotypes or concerns the = invasive genotype (subsp. _australis_) is not included in the synthesis = of Mal and Narine (2004). A few other websites listed below are very = informative, but none of these has all the content of a list that we = recently developed to assist those with questions. Most of the questions = we receive relate to identification, ecology, distribution and control = and our list covers primarily those areas. Since the older literature is = available elsewhere (e.g. Mal and Narine 2004), our list begins in 2000 = with the exception of a few valuable older reviews. This list is based = on: (1) a library search of Biosis (biological abstracts), CAB abstracts = and Agricola (agricultural on-line access); (2) documents found through = a Google search of websites; and (3) reports and articles that have been = sent to us. It has been developed especially for Canada but includes = research based in other parts of the world that can be applied to = Canada. To access the list, available here as an appendix to this issue = of BEN: http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/418/phragmites_references.pdf This list will continue to grow and we expect to release updates in the = future. Therefore we will be pleased to be informed of additions. Since = much useful information is available on the web, we have listed several = valuable websites below along with the two major reviews. Appendix: List of recent references for _Phragmites_ in Canada http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/418/phragmites_references.pdf=20 Other major sources: Chesapeake Bay Program http://www.chesapeakebay.net/phragmites.aspx?menuitem=3D16943 =20 Cornell University=20 Ecology and management of Invasive Plants Program http://invasiveplants.net/phragmites/phrag/morph.htm=20 Environment Canada=20 Common Reed, _Phragmites australis_. Fact sheet in the "Monitoring the = State of the St. Lawrence " series. Exotic plant species of the St. = Lawrence River wetlands http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/csl/inf/inf038_e.html=20 Haslam, S.M. 1972.=20 Biological flora of the British Isles, no. 128. _Phragmites communis_ = Trin. (_Arundo_ _Phragmites_ L.,? _Phragmites australis_ (Cav.) Trin. ex = Steudel). _Journal of Ecology_ 60(2): 585-610. Laval University=20 Laboratoire de recherche sur les plantes envahissantes (LAREPE) Research Laboratory on Invasive Plants http://www.crad.ulaval.ca/larepe/=20 Mal T.K. & L. Narine. 2004.=20 The biology of Canadian weeds. 129. _Phragmites australis_ (Cav.)Trin. = ex Steud. _Can. J. Plant Sci._ 84: 365-396=20 Michigan Beaver Island=20 http://www.agreatlakesjewel.org/phragmites/ =20 Nature Conservancy, Element Stewardship Abstract http://wiki.bugwood.org/Phragmites_australis=20 http://www.invasive.org/gist/esadocs/documnts/phraaus.pdf=20 United States Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/phraus/all.html=20 USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=3DPHAU7=20 Wisconsin Wetland Association=20 http://www.wisconsinwetlands.org/phragmites.htm =20 THE DYNAMICS OF _PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS_ SUBSP. _AUSTRALIS_ IN EUROPE From: Hana =C4=8C=C3=AD=C5=BEkov=C3=A1 & Jan Kv=C4=9Bt, University of = South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic (H=C4=8C + JK), Czech = Academy of Sciences, Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology, Trebon, = Czech Republic (JK) e-mail: hana.cizkova@gmail.com & Jan.Kvet@seznam.cz = _Phragmites australis_ has been extensively studied by European and = Asian scientists since the time of the _International Biological = Programme_ (IBP) in the 1960s and 1970s. The management and use of = _Phragmites_-dominated wetlands is summarized by Gopal and Mazing (1990) = and Haslam _et al._ (1998). Main production-ecological features are = given by Kv=C4=9Bt _et al._ (1998). Both earlier and IBP studies brought = the first information on ecotypic variation of _Phragmites australis_ = (Bj=C3=B6rk 1967, van der Toorn 1972). The recent history of _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_ in = Europe encompasses examples of both decline and spread. First = indications of decline were described by Kl=C3=B6tzli (1971, 1974). A = thorough description of its symptoms was given by Ostendorp (1989), and = the knowledge acquired until the late 1980s is presented in Den Hartog = (1989). Both national and international projects were carried out in the = 1990s with the aim to elucidate mechanisms of the decline (Van der = Putten 1997, Brix 1999). Although the reed decline had always = site-specific features, some general mechanisms seem to emerge. First, = declining populations always occurred on sites with stabilized water = levels and fairly deep water columns (at least 0.5 m), which prevented = generative reproduction (Rea 1996). The vegetatively maintained reed = stands coped with this situation usually fairly well until an additional = stress event occurred (e.g., strong mechanical damage or a flood event = associated with a further marked increase of the water column). = Eutrophication of wetland habitats probably predisposed the reed plants = to decline because of a strengthened oxygen deficiency in the sediment = (=C5=A0antr=C5=AF=C4=8Dkov=C3=A1 _et al._ 2001), followed by damage to = root and rhizome tips by toxic products of microbial metabolism = (Armstrong _et al._ 1996). The genetic research of declining reed populations in German lakes = pointed to their low genetic diversity (Koppitz _et al._ 1997). It was = suggested that in originally diverse populations, only such clones would = persist that would be able to survive under the particular site = conditions; and this would be reflected by a reduced genetic variability = within the given population. The resulting populations, consisting of = only a few large monoclonal stands, were supposed to be more susceptible = to rapid changes in environmental conditions such as eutrophication, = because the low genetic diversity would not provide the stands with a = sufficient phenotypic plasticity needed for successful adaptation. = Indirect support to the above hypothesis was provided by a study of = genetic diversity of populations of different age, which showed that the = genetic diversity decreased with the population age (=C4=8Curn _et al._ = 2007).=20 Reed expansion has been observed at some other European sites = (G=C3=BCsewell _et al._ 2000, =C4=8C=C3=AD=C5=BEkov=C3=A1, unpublished = results, and personal communications of nature conservation managers of = sedge meadows along the Labe (Elbe) River, Czech Republic). These sites = provide waterlogged or shallowly flooded habitats that were originally = oligotrophic, but have recently been exposed to a higher nutrient = supply. Under such conditions, the competitive ability of the common = reed seems to be supported at the expense of species of the original = sedge-dominated vegetation.=20 Appendix: Research papers on _Phragmites australis_ in Europe and Asia http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/418/phragmites_europe.pdf =20 References Armstrong, J., Armstrong, W., Armstrong, I.B., Pittaway, G.R. 1996.=20 Senescence, and phytotoxin, insect, fungal and mechanical damage: = factors reducing convective gas-flows in _Phragmites australis_. = _Aquatic Botany_ 54: 211-226. Bj=C3=B6rk, S. 1967.=20 Ecologic investigations of _Phragmites communis_. _Folia Limnologica = Scandinavica_ 14: 1-248. Brix, H. 1999.=20 The European Research Project for Reed Dieback and Progression = (EUREED). _Limnologica_ 29: 5-10.=20 =C4=8Curn, V., Kub=C3=A1tov=C3=A1, B., V=C3=A1v=C5=99ov=C3=A1, P., = K=C5=99iv=C3=A1=C4=8Dkov=C3=A1-Such=C3=A1, O., = =C4=8C=C3=AD=C5=BEkov=C3=A1, H. 2007. Phenotypic and genotypic variation = of _Phragmites australis_: Comparison of populations in two human-made = lakes of different age and history. _Aquatic Botany_ 86: 321-330. Gopal, B., Masing, V. 1990.=20 7. Biology and ecology. Pp. 91-239 in: Patten, B.C. _et al._ (eds.): = _Wetlands and Continental Shallow Water Bodies, Vol. 1_. SPB Academic = Publishing bv., The Hague, The Netherlands,=20 G=C3=BCsewell, S., LeN=C3=A9dic, C., Buttler, A. 2000.=20 Dynamics of common reed (_Phragmites australis_ Trin.) in Swiss fens = with different management. _Wetlands Ecology and Management_ 8: 375-389. Hartog, C. den (ed.) 1989.=20 Reed and Reed Decline in Europe. _Aquatic Botany (Special Issue)_ = 35(1): 1-132. Haslam, S.M., Kl=C3=B6tzli, F., Sukopp, H., Szczepa=C5=84ski, A. 1998.=20 8. The management of wetlands. Pp. 405-464 in: Westlake, D.F., = Kv=C4=9Bt, J., Szczepa=C5=84ski, A. _The Production Ecology of = Wetlands_. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, U.K.=20 Kl=C3=B6tzli, F. 1971.=20 Biogenous influence on aquatic macrophytes, especially _Phragmites = communis_. _Hidrobiologia (Bucure=C5=9Fti)_ 12: 107-111. Kl=C3=B6tzli, F. 1974.=20 =C3=9Cber die Belastbarkeit und Produktion in Schilfr=C3=B6hrichten. = _Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft f=C3=BCr Ekologie, Saarbr=C3=BCcken_ = 1973: 237-247. Koppitz, H., K=C3=BChl, H., Hesse, K., Kohl, J.-G. 1997.=20 Some aspects of the importance of genetic diversity in _Phragmites = australis_ (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel for the development of reed stands. = _Bot. Acta_ 110: 217- 223.=20 Kv=C4=9Bt, J., Westlake, D.F., Dykyjov=C3=A1, D., Marshall, E.J.P., = Ondok, J.P. 1998.=20 2. Primary production in wetlands. Pp. 78-168 in: Westlake, D.F., = Kv=C4=9Bt, J., Szczepa=C5=84ski, A. _The Production Ecology of = Wetlands_. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, U.K.=20 Ostendorp, W. 1989.=20 =E2=80=98Die-back=E2=80=99 of reeds =E2=80=93 a critical review of = literature. _Aquatic Botany_ 35: 5-26. Rea, N. 1996.=20 Water levels and _Phragmites_: Decline from lack of regeneration or = dieback from shoot death. _Folia Gebotanica et Phytotaxonomica_ 31: = 85-90. =C5=A0antr=C5=AF=C4=8Dkov=C3=A1, H., Picek, T., =C5=A0imek, M., Bauer, = V., Kopeck=C3=BD, J., Pechar, L., Lukavsk=C3=A1, J., = =C4=8C=C3=AD=C5=BEkov=C3=A1, H. 2001.=20 Decomposition processes in soil of a healthy and a declining = _Phragmites australis_ stand. _Aquatic Botany_ 69: 217-234.=20 Toorn, J. van der 1972.=20 Variability of _Phragmites australis_ (Cav.) Trin. Ex Steudel in = realtion to the environment. _Van Zee tot Land_ 48: 1-122.=20 Van der Putten, W. H. 1997.=20 Die-back of _Phragmites australis_ in European wetlands: an overview of = the European research programme on reed die-back and progression = 1993-1994. _Aquatic Botany_ 59: 263-275. WHERE IS THE INVASIVE ALIEN _PHRAGMITES_=20 GOING IN CANADA? From: Paul M. Catling and Gis=C3=A8le Mitrow, Agriculture and AgriFood = Canada, Environmental Health, Biodiversity, Saunders Bldg., Central = Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 Canada catlingp@agr.gc.ca =20 The GBIF website (http://www.gbif.org/ ) including the = =E2=80=9C_Phragmites_ of Canada=E2=80=9D databasae allows some niche = modelling using climate data with the niche modeling library = =E2=80=9CopenModeler=E2=80=9D (http://openmodeller.sourceforge.net/ ). = To determine the potential distribution, i.e. to predict spread, of the = alien invasive _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_ in Canada, we = produced a map (approximation based on models) of the presence of = climate similar to the climate already occupied by _Phragmites = australis_ subsp. _australis_ in eastern Canada. Such maps are easily = produced using instructions provided elsewhere in this issue. The = procedure used a lax bioclimatic envelope algorithm called = =E2=80=9Cenvelope score=E2=80=9D: = http://openmodeller.sourceforge.net/index.php?option=3Dcom_content&task=3D= view&id=3D61&Itemid=3D4=20 Basically we assume that the plant could occupy all parts of Canada with = climate equivalent to places where it already occurs. This area is the = =E2=80=9Cfundamental niche=E2=80=9D. For many native species, dispersal = capability, barriers, competition, pathogens, and other factors (e.g. = MacArthur 1972) spatially reduce the fundamental niche to a = =E2=80=9Crealized niche=E2=80=9D. For alien invasives on the other hand, = dispersal is usually effective, competition is less severe and natural = controls are fewer (at least for a period of time) so that the = fundamental niche may correspond to the potential realized niche. Thus = the assumption of potential range of an invasive plant being determined = by climate and soil is not unreasonable. In the present case of = _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_, edaphic factors appear to be = less important to spread than usual because it has a broad tolerance of = soil moisture ranging from continuously inundated to periodically very = dry. Although it may prefer alkaline substrates, it can spread in = extensive regions of acid soil along roadside ditches that are alkaline = due to the use of de-icing salt. In fact there is good evidence that the = major expansion of _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_ in eastern = Canada has been by fragmentation along roads (Catling & Carbyn 2006, = Lelong _et al._ 2005, 2007). It does well in calcareous (CaCO3) and = saline (NaCl) subtrates ranging from pure organic material to pure clay, = beach sand, or rock and various combinations. Consequently we assume = that climate will be much more important than soils in determining the = potential distribution and within climate, its broad moisture tolerance = suggests that temperature will be the ultimate factor. The lack of = importance of precipitation is reinforced by the abundance of water = throughout most of southern Canada and the fact that much of the spread = of the plant is by rhizome fragments with roots and buds rather than = seeds (Catling & Carbyn 2006) which may be more prone to the effects of = periodic drought. =20 OpenModeller reads the corresponding environmental values for each = occurrence point. The data points then become samples representing the = environmental conditions at each location. An algorithm is then used to = find a representation of the species niche in the environmental space. = In the present case, for each environmental variable the envelope score = algorithm finds the minimum and maximum at all occurrence sites. During = model projection, the probability of occurrences is determined as: p =3D = layers within min-max threshold / number of layers. We used 12 = temperature layers (because _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_ is = capable of dealing with much variation in water availability in eastern = Canada as noted above). The 20 climate layers included annual mean = temperature, mean diurnal range, isothermality, temperature seasonality, = maximum temperature of warmest month, minimum temperature of coldest = month, temperature annual range, mean temperature of wettest quarter, = mean temperature of driest quarter, mean temperature of warmest quarter, = mean temperature of coldest quarter, annual precipitation, precipitation = of wettest month, precipitation of driest month, precipitation = seasonality, precipitation of wettest quarter, precipitation of driest = quarter, precipitation of warmest quarter, precipitation of coldest = quarter. This square km climate grid data (Hijmans _et al._ 2005) is = provided by WorldClim (http://www.worldclim.org/ ).=20 Currently _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_ is frequent in the = southern parts of Ontario and Quebec with isolated occurrences in BC = (Martin 2003, Schueler _et al._ 2003), the maritime provinces (Catling = _et al._ 2004), and northwestern Ontario = (http://data.gbif.org/species/16140669 ). The potential distribution map = using only temperature suggested a much more extensive distribution in = Canada including a large area of the prairie ecozone in the southern = prairie provinces [Note: no sooner is a prediction made than it comes = true =E2=80=93 see article by E. Snyder in this issue, Ed.], and much of = lower elevation of the montane cordillera ecozone in central BC as well = as western parts of the Boreal Plains ecozone (for Canadian ecozones see = http://ontario.on.ec.gc.ca?wildlife/wildspace/wsimages/ws-map-caneco.gif = ). This map also suggests extensive colonization of parts of the = Canadian Shield ecozone and the Atlantic Maritime Ecozone, although = impact on natural habitat and agriculture in this region may be less due = to acidic substrates. These results provide a picture of potential = distribution that is supported by other models (in preparation) = including other environmental measures such as growing degree days.=20 The potential distribution of _Phragmites australis_ subsp. _australis_ = in Canada is very alarming because the potential environmental damage is = very substantial. Prairie wetlands for example, are host to a large = native biodiversity that includes waterfowl of great economic = importance. Wild rice may be extensively displaced. Substantial costs to = agriculture may occur as a result of invasion of irrigation systems in = the western prairie region. Sport fishing may be impacted by general = decline in wetland biodiversity in parts of southern and northwestern = Ontario. Invasion of maritime salt marsh in eastern Canada will also = likely be accompanied by substantial biodiversity loss. Prediction = allows some hope for containment since it allows preparation. Control = can protect biodiversity until either natural enemies catch up and/or = until biocontrol agents become effective. =20 Literature Cited Catling, P.M. and S. Carbyn. 2006. Recent Invasion, current status and invasion pathway of European Common = Reed (_Phragmites australis_ (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. var. _australis_) in = the Southern Ottawa District. _Canadian Field-Naturalist_ 120(3): = 207-312. =20 Catling, P. M., G. Mitrow, L. Black and S. Carbyn. 2004.=20 Status of the alien race of Common Reed in the Canadian Maritime = Provinces. _BEN - Botanical Electronic News_ 324. http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben324.html=20 Hijmans, R.J., S.E. Cameron, J.L. Parra, P.G. Jones and A. Jarvis, 2005. = Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land = areas. International Journal of Climatology 25: 1965-1978.=20 Lelong, B., C. Lavoie, Y. Jodoin and F. Belzile. 2005.=20 _The invasive common reed (_Phragmites australis_) along roads in = Quebec (Canada): a genetic and biogeographical analysis_. Road Ecology = Centre Scholarship Repository, John Muir Institute of the Environment, = University of California. = http://repositories.cdlib.org/jmie/roadeco/Lelong2005a =20 Lelong, B., C. Lavoie, Y. Jodoin and F. Belzile. 2007.=20 Expansion pathways of the exotic common reed (_Phragmites australis_): = a historical and genetic analysis. _Diversity and Distributions_ 13: = 430-437.=20 MacArthur, R.H. 1972. _Geographical ecology: patterns in the distribution of species_. Harper = and Row, New York.=20 Martin, M. 2003.=20 Common Reed (_Phragmites australis_) in the Okanagan Valley, British = Columbia, Canada. _BEN - Botanical Electronic News_ 318. http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben318.html =20 Mu=C3=B1oz, M.E.S., R. Giovanni, M.F. Siqueira, T. Sutton, P. Brewer, = R.S. Pereira, D.A.L. Canhos, and V.P Canhos. 2009.=20 OpenModeller: a generic approach to species' potential distribution = modelling. _GeoInformatica_. DOI: 10.1007/s10707-009-0090-7. http://www.springerlink.com/content/n805714x26265573/fulltext.pdf=09 Schueler, F.W., A. Karstad and J.H. Schueler. 2003.=20 Non-native _Phragmites_ communis in British Columbia. _BEN - Botanical = Electronic News_ 315. http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben315.html=20 ________________________________________________________________ =20 Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l Send submissions to aceska@telus.net BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ ________________________________________________________________ From aceska at telus.net Wed Dec 16 08:02:57 2009 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf & Oluna Ceska) Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:02:57 -0800 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 419 Message-ID: <003b01ca7e26$2e441030$8acc3090$@net> 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. 419 December 16, 2009 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- GRAHAM C.D. GRIFFITHS, PhD (JUNE 22, 1937-MAY 3, 2009) From: Patsy Cotterill & Deirdre Griffiths c/o nutmeg@planet.eon.net Attachment: http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/419/graham_griffiths_appendix.pdf A quick glance inside his PhD thesis, published in 1972 as a bound red book, volume 8 of _Seria Entomologica_, will tell you a lot about Graham Griffiths. It is entitled "_The phylogenetic classification of Diptera Cyclorrhapha_"; also illuminating is its subtitle: "_with special reference to the structure of the male postabdomen_". First, it shows his intense academic interest in an obscure group of organisms, a rare characteristic indeed among men, and second his patient observation and meticulous attention to detail, all quintessential qualities of a taxonomist. Graham Griffiths, an internationally known entomologist and Albertan botanist, was born on June 22, 1937 in Cardiff, Wales. According to his sister Angela he was an inquisitive, mischievous boy who early on showed a penchant for catching flies and other insects. He was also bright academically, learning classical Greek, while attending private schools in Wales and London. During compulsory military service in Cyprus (1956-1958) he carried out intelligence interrogation as an interpreter of present-day Greek. He won scholarships to Christ's College, Cambridge where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons.) in Classics in 1961, and an M.A. in 1964. Until 1967 he worked in administration in the U.K. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and one can speculate that from this experience of bureaucracy he gained the confidence in confronting authority that would stand him in good stead in his later involvement in local politics and environmentalism. In 1953, while still at school, Graham had met an amateur entomologist, Kenneth Spencer, at a meeting of the south London (now British) Entomological and Natural History Society. Spencer focused on the leaf mining flies in the family Agromyzidae. Graham's chief interest until then had been the flower flies, Syrphidae. While still at school (1954), he wrote about these flies in his first scientific article, which was accepted for publication by the journal _Entomologist_. Under Spencer's mentorship, however, he switched to studying the Agromyzidae. The two became friends - a friendship that was to last through the years - going on collecting trips together outside London and discussing the taxonomy of this family. It was through Spencer, along with a recommendation from the world-wide expert on Diptera, Willi Hennig,, that Graham was accepted as a PhD candidate in entomology under Professor Brian Hocking, Chairman of the Department of Entomology at the University of Alberta. This may seem surprising, given his background in classics, but by then Graham already had a list of publications on the Agromyzidae and their Hymenopteran parasites under his belt. He arrived in Edmonton, Alberta in September 1967 and gained his PhD in 1971. Graham went on to do two years of graduate work at the University of Alberta, supported by a Killam Special Postdoctoral Scholarship for interdisciplinary studies, which culminated in a publication of much broader philosophical scope, _On the Foundations of Biological Systematics_. Graham did not take up an academic position at the University of Alberta, but retained his connection to it as an Honorary Research Associate from 1974 until 1997. Alberta proved to be a happy hunting ground for him and he found a number of new species of Agromyzid leaf miners, particularly in the Rocky Mountains. (By the time of his death he had six insects named after him, i.e., with the specific epithet _griffithsi_.) Graham continued to publish on the Agromyzidae for over four decades and to review many publications in his field, some of which were in German. In 1965 he translated from the German Hennig's _Phylogenetic Systematics_. Spencer wrote glowingly that, after Hennig died in 1976, Graham "has been generally accepted as the leading theoretician on the evolution of the Diptera." Spencer also lauded Graham because he reared, preserved and identified the parasites of these Agromyzids, allowing him to perceive their high degree of host specificity. Spencer, in his 1992 autobiography _Flycatcher_ writes: "Graham quickly mastered the complex taxonomy of the parasitic Hymenoptera and between 1964 and 1968 published six excellent revisionary papers on the Alysiinae and Dacnusini, for the first time providing detailed host information." In 1977 Graham founded and edited the prestigious series of monographs, _Flies of the Nearctic Region_, which he continued to edit and contribute to until close to his death. In several issues he made major contributions to Anthomyiidae taxonomy, a very diverse family that includes root-boring larvae (commonly referred to as root maggots) as well as stem-borers and leaf miners. As a professional scientist Graham attended the usual international congresses and gave invited lectures, including three delivered in Russian, in Leningrad where he spent a month! In 1970 he married Deirdre Webb, whom he had met in Elk Island National Park, where Deirdre was then Chief Naturalist. For a year, under contract, Deirdre, an accomplished artist, drew taxonomic illustrations of Graham's flies. Later they joined forces as a consulting team and throughout the 1980s and 1990s carried out biophysical surveys and mapping, particularly of protected Crown lands for the Alberta Government. Deirdre documented the fauna, geology and land forms (including photography), and also prepared report maps. Graham concentrated on the flora, vegetation types and soils. Because Graham needed to know the host plants of his leaf miners, he had been familiarizing himself with the Alberta flora ever since his arrival in the province, and he did this with the same focused attention to detail that he accorded his insect taxonomy. The Griffiths' surveys included the Clifford E. Lee Nature Sanctuary, Beehive Candidate Ecological Reserve, Plateau Mountain Candidate Ecological Reserve and natural areas such Sylvan Lake, Bilby, Coyote Lake, Lesser Slave Lake, North Cooking Lake, Pinehurst Lake, Lister Lake, Crooked Lake, and others. Graham and Deirdre were among the very few naturalists to explore the Swan Hills region of Alberta, and in 1976 Graham edited a book on this area, _ Alberta's Forgotten Wilderness: the Swan Hills_, which was published by the Alberta Wilderness Association and the National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada (now CPAWS) - Edmonton Chapter. This work was interspersed with a three-year contract (1982-1985) to study the life history and ecology of the agricultural pests, the canola root maggots, _Delia_ spp. (Anthomyiidae). Like many another field naturalists, Graham was acutely aware of the need to conserve habitat. He was involved politically, and was not afraid to express his concerns forcibly. From 1972-74 he was chairman of the Edmonton Chapter of the National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada, where he dealt with controversial issues such as protection of Alberta's mountain parks, mineral exploration in the Rockies, and sewage system design for the City of Edmonton. From 1980-82 he was chairman of the Environmental Protection Subcommittee of the Public Advisory Committee on the Environment, of which he was a member for a much longer period. He and Deirdre intervened on several occasions when the environment of their home county, Strathcona, was threatened, for example, by the injudicious use of pesticides, or the realignment of a road that would have destroyed part of a natural area. As Dr. Packer noted in his eulogy given at a memorial service for Graham in Athabasca on May 28, 2009, Graham was a person of "firm convictions," both with respect to his taxonomy and his environmental activism. BOTANICAL CONTRIBUTIONS Graham's interest and expertise in the local flora grew to the point where plants dominated his interest in the field. In his later years he published on several rare plant species in regional publications such as _Alberta Naturalist_, _Iris_ (magazine of the Alberta Native Plant Council) and _BEN_. Most notably, Graham was able to combine his knowledge of Russian, taxonomic expertise and familiarity with a northern flora to translate three volumes of a proposed six-volume set of the _Flora of the Russian Arctic_ (Tolmachev, A. I. (ed.), 1965-1987, 10 volumes in Russian), at the request of Dr. John Packer, Professor of Botany at the University of Alberta, and the University of Alberta Press. Owing to a shortage of funds the remaining three volumes have not materialized, to the chagrin of both Graham and Dr. Packer. Nevertheless, Deirdre continues efforts to find a translator and editor to complete the series. One of Graham's important contributions to Albertan botanists was to make a clear distinction between two wetland sedge species: _Carex rostrata_ Stokes and _C. utriculata_ Boott (_Alberta Naturalist_ 1989, 19(3):105-108), which previously had been considered a single taxon, _C. rostrata_. During a survey at Coyote Lake Natural Area he observed what he called the "true" _C. rostrata_ growing in a lakeshore fen with _Carex lasiocarpa_ Ehrh. , _Menyanthes trifoliata_ L. and _Calla palustris_ L., and distinguished it from _Carex utriculata_ and _Carex aquatilis_ Wahlenb. growing in shallow water on a mineral substrate along with the provincially rare _Carex lacustris_ Willd.. Graham had the sedge specialists from eastern Canada Peter Ball and Tony Reznicek confirm the identity of his specimens. Given that all Albertan herbarium specimens had been labeled "_C. rostrata_" it became important to determine how common the "true" _C. rostrata_ was and for a time this taxon was on the Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre (ANHIC)'s tracking list as "status unknown." However, within a couple of field seasons it was determined that _C. rostrata_, separable from _C. utriculata_ by its narrower leaves and the presence of papillae on the leaf undersides which give them a glaucous look, was common enough in peaty wetlands to be taken off the list. It was from Coyote Lake also that Graham made the first record of ducksmeal, _Wolffia columbiana_ Karst. for Alberta (_Alberta Naturalist_ 1988, 18(1):18-20). The occurrence of _Wolffia arrhiza_ (L.) Horkel ex C.F.H. Wimmer in Alberta which he also tentatively reported was later discounted as the material was determined to be an aberrant form of _W. columbiana_ (_Flora of North America_ 2000, 22:152). Alerted to this genus, in 1988 Graham and Deirdre did an extensive survey of wetlands in Elk Island National Park and found an additional species, _W. borealis_ (Engelm.) Landolt, as well as _W. columbiana_ (_Alberta Naturalist_ 1990, 20 (2):59-64). As at Coyote Lake, all occurrences south to at least Ministik Game Bird Sanctuary were in beaver ponds. _Wolffia_ can grow to form a green carpet over the water by late summer and is rich food for pre-migratory waterfowl. Given that nearly 20 years have passed since this survey was undertaken, it may be time to do it again! With his usual taxonomic zeal Graham researched the literature and contacted authorities on the _Euphrasia_ genus after finding populations of a new _Euphrasia_ in Elk Island Park and hearing of similar plants on the shore of Elizabeth Lake in Lacombe. He concluded that this species should be called _Euphrasia arctica_ subsp. _borealis_ (Townsend) Yeo following the European nomenclature, although in North American literature this taxon is considered to be synonymous with _Euphrasia nemorosa_ (Pers.) Wallr. and also _Euphrasia borealis_ (Townsend) Wettst. (BEN_ # 299, December 2002). This posed the question of whether the distinction between _E. nemorosa_ and _E. arctica_ subsp. _borealis_ made in Europe should apply to North American populations. This was exactly the sort of taxonomic conundrum that Graham loved to confront. Belonging to a Eurasian taxon, these Central Alberta populations do not get tracked by ANHIC, but of course they were not beneath Graham's notice. Similarly, Graham launched into taxonomic detective work, consulting authorities and checking the literature, after examining specimens of the _Cardamine pratensis_ L. complex from various provenances in Alberta. He determined that plants seen in the Fort MacKay area and in Elk Island National Park were _Cardamine pratensis_ var. _angustifolia_ Hook. (also treated as _C. nymanii_ Gandog.), while those from the Conklin (Fort McMurray) area were a species newly recorded for Alberta, _Cardamine dentata_ J.A. Schultes (_Iris_ 55, October 2007: 6-8). The latter has thinner leaflets that are always stalked, as well as a reluctance to flower, Albertan populations reproducing mainly vegetatively by shoots developing on leaflets. Northern botanists should be aware of this distinction between the two taxa, which are both rare. Given Graham's penchant for taxonomically difficult groups, it is not surprising that he turned his attention to moonworts, the genus _Botrychium_, on which considerable work has recently been done. Elk Island Park proved to be a hotbed of these tiny, very variable, most unfern-like Ophioglossaceae ferns. Its dry, gravelly, bison-trod trails yielded no fewer than nine species when Graham, in the company of Patrick Williston from British Columbia, launched major forays on 10 and 11 June, 2001. Patrick Williston went on to investigate several other locations of moonworts in Alberta, writing a short monograph on them, and Graham has since recorded many other occurrences of Albertan species. Ever ready to assist other amateur botanists, Graham helped Tom Maccagno survey islands in Lac La Biche for moonworts, and provided a synopsis of at least eight taxa of moonwort found on Birch Island. Graham also assisted Tom with fieldwork in Garner Lake Fen, which Tom was later successful in having protected as a provincial Natural Area. In 2000 Graham and Deirdre undertook what was initially to be a one-year biophysical survey of the Crooked Lake area, sponsored by the Crooked Creek Conservancy Society of Athabasca. This, and the Athabasca region generally (within the Central Mixedwood of the Boreal Forest), proved to be exciting for both of them. Deirdre decided this environment would provide almost unlimited potential for her as a naturalist and wildlife artist, and she moved to Athabasca in late 2000. Graham moved up in 2001 having had his fill of the relentless development and increasing air pollution in Strathcona County, which left few natural areas unscathed. Established south of Athabasca, he immediately set about strengthening his relationship with colleagues at Athabasca University, where he identified plants and organized their herbarium. He took pleasure in intensively exploring Muskeg Creek Ravine close to his home and initiated "_May Plants in Flower_" Counts in the lower Muskeg Valley. Graham continued to be involved in the ongoing exploration and monitoring of the Crooked Lake and Crooked Creek areas. More recently, from 2002 until 2008, Graham was a subconsultant to various environmental assessment firms contracted by pipeline and other development companies to conduct Environmental Impact Assessments which included reporting the occurrence of rare native plants in boreal and montane habitats. Of course, Graham collected herbarium specimens during all these surveys, which he carefully mounted and deposited in university and government herbaria. It is easy to pick out his specimens in a herbarium folder: all are carefully labeled with the tiny, neat handwriting that entomologists use for their much smaller specimen labels! From the time of its inception in 1990, Graham was a keen submitter of survey records to the ANHIC database, and attended periodic meetings to revise the list of rare and "watched" vascular plants in Alberta. In 2007 Graham was only able to go on local field trips for personal interest while he recovered from throat cancer surgery, which left him with eating and speaking difficulties. He returned to consulting in the summer of 2008 despite increasing discomfort. After slipping quietly into a coma, he died in the early morning of May 3, 2009 in Athabasca Hospital, with his wife Deirdre at his side. He had dedicated his life to taxonomy and made a significant contribution to both entomological and botanical science. A condensed biography of Graham is published in the first edition (2002) of "_2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century_" (information supplied by the research and advisory board of the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England). He will be remembered with appreciation, respect and affection by his colleagues and friends. ________________________________________________________________ Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l Send submissions to aceska@telus.net BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ ________________________________________________________________ From aceska at telus.net Thu Dec 31 03:57:43 2009 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf Ceska) Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:57:43 -0800 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 420 Message-ID: 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 =20 No. 420 January 8, 2010=20 =20 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- IS RSS POISED TO REPLACE EMAIL AS THE MEDIUM TO DISTRIBUTE BEN? From: Scott D. Russell srussell@ou.edu=20 Since April 26, 2005, BEN has been available by news feeds using RSS ('Really Simple Syndication').=A0 The news article at URL: http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben348.html#5 was certainly = ahead of its time, but RSS is now an important means for promoting social networking and distributing information to web site.=A0=A0 This is a = technology that is open to everyone.=A0 The means by which one subscribes to an RSS 'feed' is to click on a typically orange box that says 'XML' or = 'RSS'.=A0 For BEN, this is located on the BEN home page, below the current Table of Contents.=A0 If you access this within a news reader, you have the = option to "subscribe," which means that whenever you access the page, its content = will be refreshed.=A0 Clicking the RSS button launches a news reader on many = of the current web browsers, and Google will place it on your iGoogle home page = if you ask it to.=A0=20 Daniel Mosquin continues to host the BEN news at his website at=A0 http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/resources/botanicalelectronicnews.php = =20 This continues to be a good way to keep up with BEN (but so also is = looking at the home page).=A0 If you have just found out about BEN, you might = send an email to me (or the editor) to tell us how you found BEN and how we = might help improve distribution.=A0 With the myriad problems of formatting and = being mistaken for spam, email listservs may become a medium of the past = rather than the future.=A0 In the near future though, I anticipate that email = will still be a delivery mechanism of choice to many readers. CANADIAN LICHENOLOGIST TREVOR GOWARD HONOURED BY HIS FINNISH COLLEAGUES From: Adolf Ceska aceska@telus.net=20 My friend Trevor Goward, a leading Canadian lichenologist, was recently honoured by his Finnish colleagues. The name of a new genus, _Gowardia_, = =93is dedicated to Trevor Goward, B.C., Canada, for his remarkable and ongoing work on North American lichens=85.=94 (Halonen et al. 2009) =93_Gowardia_,=94 writes the lichenologist Pekka Halonen, =93is easily distinguished from _Alectoria_ on the basis of cortical pigments. _Alectoria_ contains usnic acid and has a yellowish or greenish-yellow = hue, while this substance is lacking in _Gowardia_, which instead has melanic pigments yielding a grayish to blackish color. _Gowardia_ is a = circumpolar genus essentially restricted to Arctic-alpine localities. By contrast, _Alectoria_ is much more widely distributed, with a center of diversity = in temperate regions of western North America. _Alectoria ochroleuca_ = (Hoffm.) A. Massal. and _A. sarmentosa_ subsp. _vexillifera_ (Nyl.) D. Hawksw. = occur in Arctic and alpine regions, where they could be found in many areas growing together with _Gowardia_ species.=94 At present, _Gowardia_ contains two species: _G. arctica_ P. Halonen, L. Myllys, S. Velmala & H. Hyv=E4rinen, sp. nov., the type of the genus, and _G. = nigricans_ (Ach.) P. Halonen, L. Myllys, S. Velmala & H. Hyv=E4rinen, comb. nov. = (syn. _Alectoria nigricans_ [Ach.] Nyl.). In addition to several morphological = and chemical characteristics, the decision to recognize _Gowardia_ as = distinct from _Alectoria_ is supported by phylogenetic analysis based on combined = ITS and GAPDH data. _Gowardia arctica_ is known from Arctic regions of = Canada and Russia, while _G. nigricans_ has a wider range. In the same article, _Alectoria vancouverensis_ (Gyeln.) Brodo & D. = Hawksw. is documented from Finland, which is the first report of this species outside the Pacific coast of North America. Reference Halonen, P. L. Myllys, S. Velmala, & H. Hyv=E4rinen. 2009. _Gowardia_ (Parmeliaceae)=97a new alectorioid lichen genus with two species. _The Bryologist_ 112(1): 138-146. _LIPARIS LOESELII_ (L.) L.C. RICH. (LOESEL'S TWAYBLADE)=A0 - A NEW = ORCHID FOR ALBERTA From: Lorna Allen Lorna.Allen@gov.ab.ca=20 =A0 The first Alberta population of Loesel's twayblade (_Liparis loeselii_) = was located north of Fort McMurray on June 17, 2006. Twenty plants were = counted (seven in bloom) in a graminoid fen with water at or near the surface = and dominated by sedges (_Carex_ spp.) and grasses. Other species reported = from the general area include buck-bean (_Menyanthes trifoliata_ L.), dwarf = birch (_Betula pumila_=A0 L.), tamarack (_Larix laricina_ [Du Roi] K. Koch), pitcher-plant (_Sarracenia purpurea_ L.) common cattail (_Typha = latifolia_ L.), northern grass-of-parnassus (_Parnassia palustris_ L.) and mosses = (Hall and Elser 2006). Photographs were reviewed and it was confirmed to be a = new orchid for Alberta. =A0 Then on July 3, 2008, a second location for Loesel's twayblade was discovered during a trip led by Derek Johnson and organized by a = contingent of naturalists from the Red Deer River Naturalists Society. The site of = this second find is the proposed Clyde Fen Natural Area, one of the Alberta Native Plant Council=92s stewardship sites. =A0 Cheryl Thorpe spotted the first one, and Derek immediately identified = it. The group then scouted around and eventually about 15 plants in flower = were counted. They appeared to be growing in a particularly wet east-west oriented swale or channel with more graminoid vegetation than the surrounding shrubby, wet calcareous fen. For one plant, Patsy Cotterill reports that she recorded the following associated plants: golden moss (_Tomenthypnum nitens_ [Hedw.] Loeske), dwarf birch, tufted bulrush (_Trichophorum cespitosum_ =A0[L.] Hartm.), mud sedge (_Carex limosa_ = L.) and swamp horsetail (_Equisetum fluviatile_L. emend. Ehrh. ). Pitcher-plants were in the vicinity, and not far away. =A0 Sometimes this plant is also called fen orchid, yellow twayblade, or = yellow widelip orchid. Loesel's twayblade seems to be a relatively common = species in eastern North America, but it is rare in the west, including Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and south into Montana and Washington (NatureServe 2008).=A0 It also occurs in Europe, the British = Isles, Scandinavia and Russia (McMaster 2001). =A0 The species prefers calcareous sedge fens and does not tolerate much in = the way of tree cover.=A0 It is an inconspicuous orchid that can be hard to = spot in amongst the graminoids.=A0 It is a perennial herb, growing from = bulb-like bases (corms), with stems 7-20 cm tall.=A0 It has two glossy basal = leaves, 5-15 cm long, that are elliptic and somewhat succulent. The leaves are keeled on the back and narrow to winged stalks.=A0 The small, yellowish = green flowers are few on the stem (2 to 15) and arranged along the stem in a raceme. The flower stalk is relatively long and upward-pointing so the blooms stand well away from the stem. The lip is unlobed, not inflated, = and quite small (4-5.5 mm long). The petals are 4-5 mm long, narrower and shorter than the sepals (4.5-6 mm long).=20 =A0 There are other orchids in Alberta called twayblades, but they belong to = the genus _Listera_. The _Listera_ orchids also have two leaves, but their leaves are set part-way up the stem, not like the basal leaves of _Liparis_.=A0 Superficially, Loesel's twayblade probably looks most like = one of the bog orchids (genus _Platanthera_) or perhaps a bog = adder=92s-mouth (_Malaxis paludosa_[L.] Sw.). Although the flowers of Loesel's twayblade = are small, those of the bog adder=92s-mouth are smaller (lip only up to 2.5 = mm long). Of the _Platanthera_, only the blunt-leaved bog orchid (_P. = obtusata_ [Banks ex Pursh] Lindl.) has similar leaves (although it usually has = only 1 rather than 2).=A0 The petals are also more oblong that those of = Loesel's twayblade. =A0 Details on two addtional sites for Loesel's twayblade have now been submitted to ANHIC since this article was=A0originally printed in IRIS. = The first population, found in August 2008, was in a wooded fen in the = McLelland Lake=A0area, approx 75 km N of Ft. McMurray. And the second was found = June 2009 in the Lodge Lake fen complex, approx=A0 150 km northeast of = Edmonton, near Lac La Biche.With only=A0four=A0known populations in the province, = Loesel's twayblade is considered rare, and ranked S1. Acknowledgements =A0 Thanks to Patsy Cotterill, Eileen Ford=A0,=A0Derek Johnson and=A0Todd = Kemper=A0for their help in pulling together this write-up. =A0 References=20 =A0 Hall, D. & J. Elser. 2006.=20 Information provided to Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre, Alberta Tourism Parks and Recreation, Edmonton, Alberta. =A0McMaster, R. T. 2001.=20 The population biology of _Liparis loeselii_, Loesel's twayblade, in a Massachusetts wetland.=A0 _The Northeastern Naturalist_ 8(2): 163-178. =A0NatureServe. 2008.=20 _NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life_ Version 7.0._ NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.=A0=20 http://www.natureserve.org/explorer =A0 =20 Localities of _Liparis loeselii_ in Alberta 1.=A0Fen=A0approx 25 km northwest=A0of Fort McMurray;=A0found by Dawn = Hall and Jane=A0Elser;=A0noted=A0June=A017,=A02006;=A0verified=A0by=A0Joyce=A0Goul= d=A0from photographs=A0 submitted. 2. Clyde Fen, approx 60 km north of Edmonton, found by Cheryl Thorpe, = Derek Johnson & Patsy Cotterill July 3, 2008; verified by P. Cotterill & D. Johnson on site and photos taken to document. 3. McLelland Fen, S of McLelland Lake and approx 75 km N of Ft. McMurray;=A0collected=20 August 27 2008 by Linda Halsey, =A0determined by Heidi Guest. Specimen deposited at University of Calgary herbarium (accession number not yet available).=20 =A04. Lodge Lake Fen, approx 150 km northeast of Edmonton, found by = Marsh Hayward=20 June 25 2009; specimens and photos reviewed and verified by Todd Kemper. Specimen to be deposited at University of Alberta herbarium (accession number not yet available). _ERIODERMA PEDICELLATUM_, BOREAL FELT LICHEN: CURRENT STATUS, = CONSERVATION ISSUES AND FUTURE PROSPECTS From: Robert Cameron, Protected Areas Branch, Nova Scotia Environment=20 e-mail: camerorp@gov.ns.ca, Claudia Hanel, Endangered Species Branch, Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Conservation, = Ian Goudie, LGL Limited environmental research associates, & Tom Neily, = Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute _Erioderma pedicellatum_ (Hue) P.M. J=F8rg., boreal felt lichen, is an epiphytic foliose lichen found in the temperate and boreal northern hemisphere. It is a leafy lichen, light grey when dry to greyish green = when wet. The lichen has a covering of fine white hairs on the upper surface = and a mat of dense white hairs on the under surface. Mature thalli will = have small round reddish fruiting bodies on the upper surface. This lichen = is part of a group of lichens known as cyanolichens because the photosynthesizing partner is a cyanobacterium. In the case of boreal = felt lichen the cyanobacterium is in the genus _Scytonema_. =20 Boreal felt lichen is a globally endangered species known from only a = few places in the world. Populations are threatened by air pollution and commercial forestry and continue to decline. Recent finds in Alaska may = be promising for the future of the species. Boreal felt lichen is one of = the most sensitive species to human disturbances and thus acts as an early warning of ecosystem impacts. The world population of boreal felt lichen has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. = The Atlantic population, which includes Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, has = been listed as endangered under the Canadian federal Species at Risk Act. = The boreal population on the Island of Newfoundland has been listed as a = Species of Special Concern. _Erioderma pedicellatum_ in Scandinavia is currently only known from two locations in Norway (Holien 2006). The one thallus in Sweden, although protected, disappeared after an adjacent forestry operation apparently changed the local microclimate (Purvis 2000).=20 Newfoundland hosts the largest population of boreal felt lichen in the = world with numbers probably in the tens of thousands (Hanel pers. com.). Unfortunately, recent population modeling by Goudie et al. (2010) = indicates the population is declining. The exact causes are unknown, but the = authors suspect that acid rain may be a contributing factor. They also suggest = that introduced moose, with an expanding high density population (1 to 2 moose/km2), have browsed young balsam fir, the main substrate of boreal = felt lichen, to the extent that (regeneration of) habitat is limited. = Further, old-growth balsam fir, the ideal habitat for boreal felt lichen, is the target of commercial forestry operations. These operations are occurring in areas of high boreal felt lichen population. Silviculture objectives are to plant herbivore-resistant species likely to be less suitable to boreal felt lichen. The adequacy = of 20 m buffers left around individuals is now in question and the Province = plans to take a landscape management approach in the future (Keeping and Hanel 2006). Transplant experiments in the Vale Inco Long Harbour, Placentia = Bay project area suggest that boreal felt lichen populations maybe limited = by dispersal which underscores the importance of protecting stands where = the species currently occurs (Goudie pers. comm.). The known population in Nova Scotia is 180 individuals and although new sites=20 are being found by researchers, old sites are disappearing. One third of thalli monitored since 2005 are dead or dying. At least two locations = have been lost due to adjacent forestry operations, although there may be = others. Other thalli have been lost due to grazing, possibly by introduced gastropods (Cameron et al. 2009). Like other cyanolichens, boreal felt lichen is extremely sensitive to air pollution and in North America are predicted to decline in the next 12 years, large areas of Nova Scotia continue to receive levels of acid deposition in excess of critical = loads (Environment Canada 2004). _Erioderma pedicellatum_ is believed to be extirpated from New = Brunswick. Despite recent searches by local lichenologists, it hasn=92t been found = in the province since the early 20th century. Acid rain and fog and air = pollution have likely degraded the habitat to the point where it can not survive = there (New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources 2007). In August, 2007, several thalli of boreal felt lichen where collected in Denali National Park and Preserve and later in Denali State Park in = Alaska (Nelson et al. 2009). This was the first collection in western North America and marks a significant range extension. The significance of = this find is yet to be understood. The possibility of a larger population in western North America increases the hope for the survival of this = species. Boreal felt lichen is sensitive to anthropogenic impacts. The species provides an early warning of human perturbations on the environment. The fate of the global population of boreal felt lichen is uncertain. With = only two locations in Europe, survival there is uncertain. Air pollution and commercial forestry continue to be threats in eastern Canada. Only = increased effort to reduce threats can ensure the survival of this species. References Cameron, R.P., T. Neily, S.R. Clayden and W.S.G. Maass. 2009. _COSEWIC = Draft Status Report on Vole Ears_ Erioderma mollissimum. Committee on = the Status of Endanagered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. Environment Canada. 2004. _Canadian Acid Deposition Science Assessment: Summary of Key Results_. Environment Canada, Ottawa Goudie, I.R., C. Scheidegger, C. Hanel, A. Munier, E. Conway. 2010. _Population model for the globally rare boreal felt lichen = (_Erioderma pedicellatum_) in Newfoundland._ Endangered Species Research in = prep. Holien, H. 2006. Tr=F8derlav_ Erioderma pedicellatum_. Artsdatabankens Faktaark nr. 3. http://www2.artsdatabanken.no/faktaark/Faktaark3.pdf =20 Keeping, B. and C. Hanel. 2006. _A 5 year (2006-2011) management plan = for the boreal felt lichen (_Erioderma pedicellatum_) in Newfoundland and Labrador._ Wildlife Division, Department of Environment and Conservation, Corner Brook. http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/wildatrisk/BOREAL.pdf =20 Nelson, P., J. Walton and C. Roland. 2009. _Erioderma pedicellatum_ = (Hue)=20 P.M.Jorg., New to the United States and Western North America, Discovered in Denali National Park and Preserve and Denali State Park, Alaska. _Evansia_ 25: 19 =96 23. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources. 2007.=20 _Recovery Strategy for the Boreal Felt Lichen (_Erioderma pedicellatum_) in New Brunswick._ Natural Resources. Fredericton. http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/collection_2007/ec/En3-4-20-2007E.pdf = Purvis, W. 2000. _Lichens._ Smithsonain Institution Press, Washington in = association with the Natural History Museum, London. SECOND EDITION OF THE MACROLICHENS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST=20 From: Irwin M. Brodo, Canadian Museum of Nature ibrodo@mus-nature.ca=20 McCune, Bruce & Linda Geiser. 2009.=20 _Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest_. Second Edition. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR. 504 pp. ISBN no. 978-0-87071-565-5 [softcover] US$30.00=20 Ordering information: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/press/m-n/macrolichens.htm =20 Distributed by the University of Arizona Press: https://www.uapress.arizona.edu/scripts/secure/orderosu.pl =20 When Bruce McCune and Linda Geiser=92s book, _Macrolichens of the = Pacific Northwest_ was first published in 1997, it was warmly received and = proved to be invaluable to western botanists and ecologists dealing with lichens. Designed especially as a field guide for forest ecologists and managers = (and co-published by the U.S.D.A. Forest service), it featured first rate = colour photographs by Sylvia and Steve Sharnoff and authoritative descriptions = and keys to all the species of macrolichens then known for Oregon and Washington, as well as numerous species from surrounding regions. Not surprisingly, it fostered a widespread interest in lichens as an = integral part of the Pacific Northwest flora. A lot has happened in lichenology since 1997, and this has necessitated = a new look at the lichens of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Fortunately, = Oregon State University Press invited the authors to prepare a second edition = of their popular book. In the new edition, the authors have not only taken advantage of new scholarship in lichenology over the past decade with = name changes and revised descriptions, they have taken the opportunity to illustrate many more species and add new photographs to previously illustrated species. Many photographs in this edition are from sources = other than the Sharnoffs, most taken by Bruce McCune himself. The number of illustrations was increased from 236 to 417. Most of these new pictures illustrate details of previously treated species, and these close-up photographs, complete with scale bars, are what make this edition so special. Three sets of pictures stand out: a series showing the lower surface of 18 species of _Peltigera_, a plate illustrating all types of apothecia in the genus _Umbilicaria_, and, most spectacular, a series of excellent colour photographs of longitudinal sections of _Usnea_ = species, 21 in all. To me, they alone are worth the price of the new book. Alas, = the McCune pictures aren=92t as good as the Sharnoff pictures, but this = won=92t surprise anyone, including the photographer. There is a strange yellow-brown tint in virtually all the pictures that is particularly disturbing, but the essentials of the lichen details are intact and = helpful. Ironically, the inaccurate brownish tones in many of the Sharnoff = pictures of the first edition (e.g., _Leptochidium albociliatum_, _Leptogium polycarpum_, _Umbilicaria deusta_) have been corrected in this edition = to show the true colour of the original photographs. In the new edition, we find that _Cetraria_ is still used in a very = broad sense (following genetic results of Thell et al. 2002), but other = segregate genera are recognized in the new edition that were previously rejected, e.g., _Fuscopannaria_ and _Allocetraria_. Newly segregated genera are = also included, e.g., _Xanthomendoza_, _Melanelixia_ and _Melanohalea_, and _Neofuscelia_ is included within _Xanthoparmelia_, following recent = genetic findings. In all, the new edition introduces 117 new species treatments = and 51 name changes. =20 Other changes in the new edition are worth noting. The authors have = moved the section on _Collecting and Identifying Lichens_ to the = _Introduction_, as well as a greatly expanded, somewhat technical section on _Lichens = and Air Quality_. The latter summarizes a lot of material, especially = pertinent for the PNW, in 27 informative pages using graphs, tables and maps and = many literature citations. Included is a lengthy table showing the = sensitivity of hundreds of species to sulphur dioxide and nitrogen pollution. =20 The Nomenclatural summary table at the end of the book in this edition = is no longer =93cluttered=94 with a column for acronyms, used for data = collection and based on the USDA Natural Resources Data Center. This perhaps reflects = the book=92s appeal to a broader audience than just forest workers. The = English names, still used only at the genus level, have been downgraded even = further by eliminating the bold-face type used in the first edition. =20 The basic question for any field guide is, =93Will it work?=94 = Absolutely. The authors have built on their previous success with new and improved = coverage, more helpful details and notes, and greatly expanded _Sources_ citing = new lichenological literature. The treatments of some genera such as _Fuscopannaria_ and _Usnea_ will become the new standards for our = knowledge of PNW species. Although I could quibble with a few of the couplets and = the odd descriptive detail, the overall value of the book for amateur naturalists through experienced lichenologists is unquestioned. I = recommend it highly. Reference Thell, A. , S. Stenroos, T. Feuerer, I. K=E4rnefelt, L. Myllys & J. = Hyv=F6nen. 2002.=20 Phylogeny of cetrarioid lichens (Parmeliaceae) inferred from ITS and b-tubulin sequences, morphology, anatomy and secondary chemistry. _Mycological Progress_ 1: 335-354. ________________________________________________________________ =20 Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l =20 Send submissions to aceska@telus.net =20 BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ =20 ________________________________________________________________