From aceska at telus.net Wed Jun 22 15:27:29 2011 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf Ceska) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2011 07:27:29 -0700 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 438 Message-ID: <000201cc30e8$846c7cb0$8d457610$@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. 438 June 22, 2011 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, 1809 Penshurst, Victoria, BC, Canada V8N 2N6 ----------------------------------------------------------- $1.25-MILLION GRANT "DREAM COME TRUE" FOR RENOWNED ETHNOBOTANIST From: _The Ring_, Mon, 06/13/2011 University of Victoria ethnobotanist Nancy Turner has devoted her academic career to researching the pivotal role plant resources play in Aboriginal cultures and languages. She's won accolades for her work from around the world but a $1.25 million grant from the Quadra Island-based Tula Foundation gives Turner the opportunity to study and conduct research in traditional West Coast Aboriginal territories to strengthen her knowledge even further. As part of a recent agreement between UVic and the foundation's Hakai Beach Institute, Turner has been named as the inaugural Hakai Chair in Ethnoecology. The five-year, non-endowed chair will support ongoing research in ethnoecology and traditional knowledge. As the inaugural chair, Turner will shift her focus from teaching to research, allowing her to work extensively with Central Coast Aboriginal communities and graduate students until her retirement. The agreement includes development of research, field studies and teaching opportunities for UVic environmental studies graduate students. The institute's 215-acre facility is located on Calvert Island on B.C.'s ecologically rich Central Coast "This is a dream come true for me. It will allow me the time, resources and flexibility I need to be out on the lands and waters of First Nations' territories with knowledgeable elders and teachers," says Turner, a distinguished professor with UVic's School of Environmental Studies. "The grant allows me to deepen my understanding of the Central Coast and its unique ecology while strengthening my relationship with the Heiltsuk Nation." Turner is one the most respected and honoured ethnobotanists in the world, specializing in ethnoecological studies with coastal British Columbia Indigenous peoples, particularly on BC's Central Coast. Ethnoecology is the study of how people understand their environment and their relationship to the ecosystems. Turner's research and teaching about the relationship between Indigenous peoples and plants and how that relationship influences the landscapes and habitats of Western Canada helped establish UVic as a national leader in ethnoecology and traditional knowledge studies. "The generosity of the Tula Foundation honours Nancy Turner's commitment to enhance our knowledge about the deep and significant role that plants play in the culture of Aboriginal peoples," says UVic President David Turpin. "The agreement also ensures that our students have the opportunity to build on that knowledge, and study and conduct research in a truly spectacular setting." "Nancy has been a champion of Aboriginal knowledge and uses it in culturally appropriate and sensitive ways," says Hilistis band member Pauline Waterfall, a recent recipient of the Order of BC and a member of the Heiltsuk Nation. "I soon learned that I could trust her and openly share with her our traditional knowledge." The Tula Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental sustainability, public service, research and teaching. The Hakai Beach Institute is a non-profit organization that is fully funded by the Tula Foundation. Further information: www.tula.org/ Earlier this year, the Tula Foundation provided UVic with a $2.75-million grant to support the Environmental Law and Sustainability Program in the Faculty of Law. RARE PLANTS OF THE FRASER VALLEY IN THE LOWLAND ZONE - PART 5 From: Frank Lomer, Honourary Research Associate, UBC Herbarium, Vancouver, B.C. e-mail: lomerlomer@hotmail.com Excluded Species The following rare species have been collected in the Fraser Valley over the years, but are not considered to be native here. They may show up as waifs from time to time in sand dredgings from the Fraser River, railroad tracks, cultivated fields, or waste places and, in some cases, even become established from introduced populations originating from outside the province. _Actaea elata_ (Nutt.) Prantl Found in the Chilliwack drainage, but not in the Fraser lowlands except on the lower slopes of Mt Cheam above the lowland zone. _Alopecurus carolinianus_ Walt. There is an old record from Humphries St., Vancouver in 1912. This was most likely an introduction. _Anemone virginiana_ L. var. _cylindroidea_ B. Boivin There is an old collection from 1889 from Agassiz. It is believed to be mislabeled, as its occurrence here seems unlikely. _Apocynum_ x _floribundum_ Greene An old record from Cultus Lake is probably referable to A. cannabinum, but the specimen is not easy to determine with certainty. _Eleocharis rostellata_ (Torr.) Torr. Reported from Pitt Lake and Vancouver, but no verifiable vouchers found. It would not be expected in the Fraser Valley. _Cardamine parviflora_ L. - This slender annual has been collected near the Fraser River in Coquitlam in 1991 (UBC: Lomer s.n.). It still occurs at the site today, but because it is unclear whether this population is native or European in origin it has been excluded. _Carex hystericina_ Muhl. ex Willd. Collected from dredged sand in Coquitlam. _Carex sychnocephala_ Carey Collected from dredged sand in Surrey. _Cyperus erythrorhizos_ Muhl. Established as a weed in several cranberry fields from Delta to Harrison. Recently found away from these sites in Burnaby. _Eleocharis rostellata_ (Torr.) Torr. Reported from Pitt Lake and Vancouver, but no verifiable vouchers found. It would not be expected in the Fraser Valley. _Epilobium ciliatum_ ssp. _watsonii_ (Barbey) Hoch & Raven Occurs in the Fraser delta, but too widespread and unthreatened in BC to be considered a rare plant. _Epilobium leptocarpum_ Hausskn. Found by railroad tracks in Coquitlam. It also occurs as native on the North Shore Mountains. _Eragrostis pectinacea_ (Michx.) Nees var. _pectinacea_ Rare weed in waste places. Slated for removal from the rare plant list because BC plants are assumed to be introductions. _Glyceria_ x _occidentalis_ (Piper) J. C. Nels. Apparently this nothospecies is a hybrid between the native _Glyceria leptostachya_ and the introduced _G. fluitans_ from Europe. Until these hybrids can be separated from the _G. fluitans_ plants that grow in the Fraser Valley it is best to exclude it at this time. _Isoetes nuttallii_ A. Braun ex Engelm. Reports from North Vancouver were based on a misidentification. It may occur in seepage sites on the lower mountain slopes north of the Fraser River. _Lindernia dubia_ (L.) Pennell var. _dubia_ Rare weed in bare sites in cranberry fields in Delta and Piitt Meadows; presumed to be introduced from eastern North America. _Navarretia intertexta_ (Benth.) Hook. Collected as a waif along railroad tracks in White Rock in 1988. _Nicotiana attenuate_ Torr. ex S. Watson Collected from dredged sand in Surrey. _Potentilla paradoxa_ Nutt. - Collected by railroad tracks and in dredged sand in Greater Vancouver. _Scirpus pallidus_ (Britt.) Fern. Collected from dredged sand in Surrey and also from the natural Fraser shoreline nearby where it has spread. _Sphenopholis intermedia_ (Rydb.) Rydb. Collected from dredged sand in Surrey. _Symphyotrichum frondosum_ (Nutt.) G. L. Nesom Collected from dredged sand in Surrey and garden topsoil in New Westminster. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Adolf Ceska, Jamie Fenneman, Fred Ganders, Rose Klinkenberg, Jenifer Penny, Terry Taylor, and Peter Zika for their helpful comments. ____________________________________________________________ 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 Jun 29 21:31:33 2011 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf Ceska) Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:31:33 -0700 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 439 Message-ID: <000201cc369b$890a0db0$9b1e2910$@net> BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N =20 BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 439 June 29, 2011 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, 1809 Penshurst, Victoria, BC, Canada V8N 2N6 ----------------------------------------------------------- NATURE CONSERVANCY NEWS RELEASE: PRAIRIE AND OAK WOODLAND CONSERVATION LEAPS FORWARD From: Robin Stanton, (206) 436-6274 rstanton@tnc.org =20 =09 New volume of _Northwest Science_ (Volume 85 Issue 2 =96 May 2011) = compiles restoration science for the prairies and oak woodlands in Washington, = Oregon and British Columbia.=20 Restoring the prairies and oak woodlands that run through Puget = Sound=92s lowlands, western Oregon and British Columbia, is a complex and = intensely local effort. Acre by acre, land stewards wrench out Scotch broom, = reseed wildflowers, nurture butterflies, and work to understand the interplay = of all the elements that make up this fragile land. The Nature Conservancy has helped to develop a sophisticated = collaborative working group, the Cascadia Prairie-Oak Partnership, to share = conservation efforts throughout this region. Now, all that the partnership members = have learned over 20 years and uncounted acres of restoration has been = collected into one volume. This work was supported by the Department of Defense = Legacy Resource Management program, which provides financial support to DOD = efforts to protect our natural and cultural heritage. The spring issue of _Northwest Science_, the peer-reviewed journal of = the Northwest Scientific Association, represents the most up-to-date = information for the prairie-oak system in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.=20 =93This publication provides us with long-needed, up-to-date information = that relates directly to our on-the-ground conservation and restoration = efforts. This volume is going to guide our work for years to come,=94 said David Wilderman, a Department of Natural Resources ecologist who manages restoration at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve. The bottom line of all this research is that conservation efforts are showing considerable successes in many areas, but they require a good understanding of natural history, solid scientific studies, and = perseverance with a long-term commitment. For example, conservationists have a variety of tools at their disposal = for beating back invasive species to allow the native species to thrive: burning, as practiced by Native Americans for generations; careful application of targeted herbicide; fall and spring mowing, and = re-seeding with native seeds. But use of these techniques has been as fragmented as = the prairies themselves. Land managers relied on anecdotal = knowledge-sharing, or studies testing single treatment in one place. But now, conservation practitioners have access to a five-year study = across the entire geography testing multifaceted restoration techniques. = They=92ve learned that adding seed of native species =96 even ones that are = already present on a site =96 is key in most restoration. Burning or applying herbicide isn=92t sufficient, as there usually is not enough native seed available to jump in when weeds are controlled. Carefully selected, = multiple treatments used in combination over several years are necessary. One or = two treatments (a burn, or a couple of applications of herbicide) aren=92t = going to do it. Dr. Peter Dunwiddie served as the editor for this volume. Dr. Dunwiddie = has worked in prairie conservation since 1983, and has published widely in scientific literature, particularly in the areas of rare plants and = natural area management. He is known for working collaboratively with academic scientists and land managers.=20 Jeffrey Duda, a research ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, is = the editor of _Northwest Science_. Read it online at http://www.bioone.org/toc/nwsc/85/2 =20 ECORESERVES AGAIN From: Jim Pojar jpojar@telus.net [Originally published in _The Log_, = Winter 2003, posted here with permissions.]=20 Late this past August [2003], towards the end of what was a magnificent summer in the northern hinterland, I was a guest at the marriage of two friends and colleagues=97both keen botanists and naturalists. It was a = moving ceremony, not least for me because the groom is the grandson of Ray Williston (in attendance and still alert) and the reception was held at = a lodge overlooking nearby Burnt Cabin Bog Ecological Reserve. As a = cabinet minister, Mr. Williston was persuaded by Dr. Vladimir Krajina and other concerned biologists of the value of ecological reserves, and was instrumental in getting crucial legislation passed in 1971=97the = _Ecological Reserves Act_. Even in those days of the buccaneering politics of W.A.C. Bennett and his Social Credit provincial government, some cabinet = ministers and astute senior bureaucrats understood the clear purpose of, and need = for, natural areas permanently set aside for scientific research and = educational use. They also understood that ecological reserves were different than parks. As I mused upon the joy, hope, and anxiety that the young couple must = have been feeling during their wedding, I also reflected on my hopes and = fears for ecological reserves. How difficult (but ultimately rewarding) it has been to get some of them established: Burnt Cabin Bog was proposed in = 1973; I helped Dr. Krajina survey it back then; 27 years later it was finally established. How easily some reserves have been damaged or compromised, = by unauthorized uses (hunting, fishing, livestock grazing, four-wheeling, = and so forth) that stem in large part from an inability or unwillingness by government agencies to enforce regulations and manage ecological = reserves in the spirit of the legislation. Ecological reserves are legally protected natural areas where human interference with natural processes is supposed to be kept to a minimum. = The major purposes of ecoreserves are: scientific research and educational use; establishment of representative =93benchmark=94 areas against which to measure the effects of change in natural and managed ecosystems; protection and maintenance of genetic resources and biological diversity; protection of rare and endangered organisms in their natural habitat; preservation of unique, rare, or outstanding natural phenomena. You and I know that=92s what ecoreserves are for. You can find a similar version of the above on the British Columbia Parks website: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/eco_reserve/ =20 Sometimes I wonder if cabinet ministers and their advisors have read the material posted on =93their=94 websites. Ecological reserves are NOT parks. Ecoreserves are established primarily = for their scientifc and educational value; research and educational use are encouraged under permit. They are not created for outdoor recreation, although most are open to the public, for non-destructive observational = use (i.e., natural history). They were not intended for commercial = backcountry recreation, or for use by privateers masquerading as outdoor educators. Even more recently, this September I helped lead a field trip for a = group of Bulkley Valley citizens uneasily but earnestly engaged in the current = form of limited participatory democracy in resource planning on provincial = Crown land=97aka land and resource management planning, in this case the = =AC_Morice Land and Resource Management Plan_ (see http://www.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/slrp/lrmp/smithers/morice/index.html ). = The group had many questions about ecology and forestry, including a set revolving around the differences between wild young forests and = commercially managed young forests. In the middle of the 19,000 ha _Swiss Fire_, I = lead them through the latter to the former. To the edge of the _Morice River Ecological Reserve, ER#81_, established in 1977, mostly burnt over in = the 1983 fire. Twenty years later, the _Morice River Ecoreserve_ supports a dense young forest of mostly lodgepole pine: no salvage logging, natural regeneration, no planting, no spacing or thinning, lots of snags and = downed logs. The differences between it and the adjacent managed forest were = clear and easy for people to observe and think about and discuss. What=92s = more, in 1983 we researchers established permanent plots in the reserve, and have been monitoring ecological succession there for 20 years. Such long-term data sets are rare indeed in British Columbia. There was much for the = group to see and learn and talk about. Were it not for this Ecological = Reserve, it would be difficult to find a reasonably accessible, wild young forest = for such comparisons, within 100 km of the town of Houston. There is plenty = of young forest in the area, but the silviculturists have been assiduous = and most such stands have experienced some sort of management intervention. = I was reminded once again, and forcefully, of the scientific and = educational value of ecoreserves. Nowadays ecological reserves seem to have been relegated to second or = third class status by the provincial government and its responsible management agency, British Columbia Parks. In fairness, the relative neglect is unfortunately not a recent phenomenon. And of course, it is largely = because Parks simply doesn=92t have the resources to manage our parks, much less protect ecoreserves. But it is very worrying when some Parks people seem = to regard ecoreserves as a nuisance. Our leaders and their handlers seem = also to lack the original clear vision of the purpose and value of ecological reserves. Some could be prisoners of ideology, some perhaps are = ethically ambiguous, most are ecologically challenged. That=92s nothing new, but = the lack of checks and balances in governance is. Although the legislation remains clear, the regulations governing ecoreserves contain loopholes = that can be exploited. Now more than ever ecological reserves need all the friends they can get, and all support that the Friends of Ecological Reserves can provide. BOOK REVIEW: NATIVE ORCHIDS OF QU=C9BEC/LABRADOR From: Paul Martin Brown, American Orchid Society Web [posted here with permission] =20 Beaus=E9jour, Sylvain. 2008. _Les Orchid=E9es indig=E8nes du = Qu=E9bec/Labrador_ [English translation by Paul Martin Brown on pages 158-173] Les =C9ditions Native. 176 p. ISBN 978-2-9810127-0-8 [hard cover] Price: $49.95 For sample pages and the order information go to www.orchideequebec.com = =20 =20 The past few years have seen several new books relating to the wild = orchids of Canada. They have essentially been field guides and vary from slender paperbacks on Newfoundland and Manitoba to the more extensive _Wild = Orchids of the Canadian Maritimes and Northern Great Lakes_. After many years of painstaking photography and research, Beausejour has produced what is = the most beautiful book on the orchids of northern North America. Neither a field guide nor a botanical treatise, _Les Orchid=E9es indig=E8nes du Qu=E9bec/Labrador_ [_Native Orchids of Qu=E9bec/Labrador_] is a feast = for the eyes of the most artistic photographs to come along in many years. Each species is treated with numerous photographs as well as the pertinent technical information and a map showing the general distribution in the region. Habitat photographs abound and extreme close-ups are the rule = rather than the exception for each species. Sylvain's expertise as a = photographer is unquestioned, but his dedication to finding all of these orchids is bordering on the fanatical. I have been privileged to help him in = locating some of the species, many of which required multiple trips of great distances, and then as the book was nearing completion, I provided the English translation to give the book a larger audience. It was a special experience that I had not attempted. Be sure to check Beausejour's Web = site for a unique preview of the book. _Les Orchid=E9es indigenes du Qu=E9bec/Labrador_ has had a frustrating = history of publication as the first printing in November 2007 was so poorly = bound that Beausejour refused delivery and returned the books and then after = many months of negotiations and broken promises, he has finally received the books. And they are spectacular. The large format, heavy papers and brilliant colors all contribute to this superior volume. Although = certainly biased in favour of the book, I highly recommend it to all native orchid enthusiasts, and as it is a private printing the run will sell out soon. = Can we now look forward in the future to a companion publication by = Beausejour on the orchids of Ontario? =97 ____________________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________________