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BEN # 155
BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X
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BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL
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No. 155 January 31, 1997
aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca Victoria, B.C.
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Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2
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BOTANY BC, A ROLE MODEL FOR WASHINGTON STATE BOTANISTS
From: AR Kruckeberg <ark@u.washington.edu> originally
printed in Douglasia Winter 1997
A novel botanical gathering occurs annually over the border in
Canada. Novel, indeed, in the waning years of this century, when
botanists now most often gather to share their findings and
techniques from laboratories equipped to probe the mysteries of
DNA molecules and proteins. Rather, Botany BC harks back to the
days when field botany (read, Natural History!) was a common and
respected pursuit. Especially in the study and appreciation of
regional floras is the "gel jock" botanist supplanting the field
botanist. Yet Botany BC is hardly an anachronism; it thrives
each year on the premise that total immersion in one's regional
flora can be fun and an unforgettable learning experience.
>From my attendance this summer at a 3-4 day excursion in north
central British Columbia with about thirty women and men of
Botany BC, I learned that its diverse clientele all leave their
appointed tasks in land management, recreation, forestry and
rehabilitation ecology to renew their contact with the real
world of BC's biodiversity. Most attendees work for the BC
government: Ministries of Forestry, Environment, the Endangered
Species program and the like; academics are in the minority. The
annual gathering of self-motivated BC naturalists is hardly a
conference; much more it is: "Botany BC, a very informal group
whose sole purpose is to put together an interesting, informa-
tive, fun-filled trip each year. It brings together interested
botanists from throughout BC and adjacent areas from many dif-
ferent fields (forestry, mine reclamation, etc.)" [Craig De
Long, the 1996 convener]. Besides fascinating habitats visited
during the day, evenings combine an informal botanical talk with
social activities.
This year Botany BC focused on unusual habitats within the
Prince George area. We visited a serpentine outcrop (Murray
Ridge) and a limestone habitat (Pope Mountain), both located
near Fort St James and the scenic Stuart Lake. With the aid of
botanists familiar with the local flora, we put together
creditable check lists for these two, and other, edaphic sites.
I had given a talk the night before on Pacific Northwest serpen-
tine ecology, so all were primed to encounter a unique vegeta-
tion. And it was! On Murray Ridge we witnessed the serpentine
form of maidenhair fern (Adiantum aleuticum) in a subalpine fir
(Abies lasiocarpa) forest. Then at the summit a sparsely
vegetated serpentine outcrop with a number of exceptional herbs
and shrubs. The uniqueness of the flora was repeated on the
limestone of Pope Mountain. No endemics, but a peculiar mix of
wide-ranging species. Then back to Prince George for a fine
catered dinner, followed by an evening talk on forest mycor-
rhizae (Hugues Massicotte). And the night before, it was Canad-
ian folk singing by Andy McKinnon around the campfire at Lake
Stuart.
The next day again focused on unique habitats: wetlands, dunes,
and the like, in the Rocky Mountain Trench east of Prince
George. I saw my first tamarack (Larix laricina) in a bog set-
ting; it was the dominant tree, mostly dwarfed by the bog
habitat.
In yet another bog, we saw a rich wetland flora: club mosses,
ericaceous shrubs and sedges. After bog-slogging in the morning,
we entered a remarkable habitat that could have been on the west
side of the Olympic Peninsula: the West Twin Creek old-growth
cedar-hemlock forest, and here we were, almost to the Rocky
Mountains! Notable absentee in this mesic western hemlock -
western red cedar forest was vine maple. At this stop we had
Trevor Goward, lichenologist, regale us with a novel notion that
lichens serve as indicators of stages in forest succession.
Goward claims that some lichens are only found in very old
growth forests, what he calls "antique forests". The last stop
of the day was just west of Valemont, where the highway, BC
Route 16, borders a thinly forested duneland along the upper
Fraser River. Scattered lodgepole pine grows here with kinnikin-
nik and Juniperus communis in the pine understory, as well as
herbs (including a rare sedge and locoweed - Astragalus sp.).
So the three days of rich botanical fare in the field and in the
informal lecture- discussion sessions came to an end; it was an
exciting experience for me to be with Canadian companions who,
freed from their appointed daily chores, reveled in the devotion
to fun with botany. An added thrill for me was an all-day BC
Rail trip from North Vancouver to Prince George. It gave a
kaleidoscopic view of BC vegetation and scenery from wet coastal
forest up into the dry interior (ponderosa pine and sagebrush at
Lillooet), then on east to the Cariboo Plateau for a taste of
the subboreal spruce forest. There is "method" in my relating
this delightful event. I believe it can be matched below the
border. Washington state has the flora, the requisite amenities
for hostelry, and above all a potential clientele. We could pull
it off here, just as well as the Canadians do it! Our potential
clientele: botanists, ecologists, and wildlife specialists with
the federal and state agencies (USFS, BLM, NPS, DNR, etc.), as
well as junior college and high school botany/biology teachers,
graduate students - yes, and even academics from the four-year
colleges and universities.
Botany BC's organization is simple, especially as it is divorced
from any government agency. One host convener per year at a
given meeting area; their own bank account, and modest registra-
tion fees to cover housing, meals and transport. I could envi-
sion our version of Botany BC holding annual outings in the
Columbia Gorge, the Hanford Reach, the Columbia Plateau country,
the Okanogan Highlands, the North Cascades, and the Olympic
Peninsula, and elsewhere, well into the future. So let us in-
itiate a "Botany Washington" field tour some time before the
century plays out. We have the botanists and the botany to make
it work! I am willing to be the "point - person" to get it
started.
Art Kruckeberg, University of Washington, Botany, Box 351330,
Seattle, WA 98195.
Phone: (206) 543-1976. E-mail: ark@u.washington.edu
HYBRID LARCH FOR REFORESTATION OF DISASTER AREAS - NW BOHEMIA
From: Jiri Sindelar & Josef Frydl c/o <FORINST@MS.ANET.CZ>
Forests cover 34.4% or 4 626 million hectares of the former
Czechoslovakia, with 33.4 and 39.9%, respectively, in the Czech
Republic and Slovakia. Development of these forests has been
influenced by human activity.
The health of forests in the Czech Republic forests is declining
quickly, mainly due to air pollution. For example, 54.5% of the
forests in 1986 were affected by air pollution while only 6
years later about 58.3% were affected (Domes, 1992). Air pollu-
tion results in the acidification of soils and depositions of
harmful substances including compounds of sulphur, nitrogen,
fluoride, chlorine, and heavy metals.
The damage is most severe in Northern Bohemia. For example in
the Ore Mountains (Krusne hory Mountains) and Orlicke hory
Mountains, soil pH can be as low as 2.2 ( Materna, 1978). Norway
spruce, the predominant tree species in these areas, is quite
susceptible to air pollution.
To alleviate the problem in forests in the Czech Republic
forests, it is necessary to reduce the effects of air pollution
and then to regenerate forest stands using tree species which
are genetically and economically suitable for the sites. Good
tending of young stands, especially on an ecological-sound
basis, is also very important for re-establishing productive
forests in the regions affected by air pollution. Our results
with larch inter-specific hybrids progenies in the Ore Mountains
region indicate that they are good candidates for regenerating
the forest stands in air pollution damaged areas.
For more than 50 years, intensive provenance testing of European
larch (Larix decidua Mill.) and Japanese larch (L. leptolepis
Gord.) has provided basic information on the natural variability
of these species (Paques, 1992). In the Ore Mountains, two
research plots with larch inter-specific hybrids were estab-
lished in 1970 as a part of a program to determine the
feasibility of using such trees for reforestation in areas which
have been heavily damaged by air pollution.
Observation made on 18-year old trees show that growth was slow
on sites heavily affected by air pollution, but that the trees
were otherwise healthy. Our results indicate the possibility
that using inter-specific hybrids of larch for reforestating
disaster areas will be successful in the Ore Mountains. Compared
to European larch progenies, hybrids grow more quickly, avoiding
the detrimental effect of ground frosts, competition from weeds,
and animal damage. We propose the establishment of larch hybrid
seed orchards to provide seed for reforesting these areas.
Literature
Domes, Z. 1994. Forestry of the Czech Republic. Workshop Country
Report, FAO, Rome, 1994, 25 p.
Materna, J. 1978. The effect of industrial pollutants on forest
trees: Physiological and ecological aspects. UVTIZ Praha,
Lesnictvi, 5, 76 p. [In Czech]
Paques, L. 1992. Current status of inter- and intra- specific
hybridization. Pp. 108-122 In: Results and future trends in
Larch breeding on the basis of provenance research. Proc.
IUFRO Centennial Meeting of the IUFRO Working Party S2.02-07.
Berlin.
Sindelar, J. 1987. State of health and growth of Larch (Larix
sp.) progenies from open pollination and controlled cross-
breeding in the Ore Mountains. race VULHM, 70(1987): 37 - 69.
[In Czech]
Authors' address:
Ing. Jiri Sindelar, C.Sc. and Ing. Josef Frydl, C.Sc.
Forestry and Game Management Research Institute
Jiloviste - Strnady
156 04 Praha 5 - Zbraslav nad Vltavou
The Czech Republic
RESOURCE ECONOMIST/SOCIOLOGIST FACULTY POSITION - BAMFIELD
From: Emily L. MacQuarrie c/o <sfshome@igc.apc.org>
At The School for Field Studies' Center for Coastal Studies
located in Bamfield British Columbia.
Experienced in: Cost benefit analysis, Sustainable development,
Extensive experience developing survey tools, Experience with
First Nations peoples, Knowledge of local politics in a social
and cultural context, Assessment and evaluation methodology, The
Social Science of natural resources, The human dimensions of
wildlife and conservation biology. All faculty positions are
residential and require faculty to live on site with students.
Programs are offered to 32 college students for semester and
summer programs. Faculty will teach the equivalent of one and
one half courses per semester, oversee students directed re-
search projects and participate in all daily living at the
center. Room and board are provided by SFS. Salary is $25,000
American, and health insurance is provided.
Requirements: Ph.D or Masters degree with at least 4 years of
applied experience. Relevant work/living experience in British
Columbia or similar ecosystem. At least 2 years at the under-
graduate level with full course responsibility (writing and
grading exams, lecturing, etc.), a demonstrated commitment to
conservation and experience working with applied conservation
and management issues.
To apply: Send cv and a detailed letter explaining skills and
experience to:
SFS BC Search, 16 Broadway, Beverly, MA 01915
Fax: (508) 927-5127, Phone: (508) 922-7200 ext. 304
E-mail: sfshome@igc.apc.org
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