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BEN # 233
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No. 233 October 2, 1999
aceska@victoria.tc.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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RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY - NATIVE PLANTS IN COMMON GARDENS
From: Phil &/or Carla Burton <symbios@mail.bulkley.net>
Symbios Research & Restoration has established a set of common
gardens for over 25 species of herbaceous vascular plants in-
digenous to northern British Columbia, Canada. In support of
research to develop a broadly adapted source of commercially
available seed for use in ecosystem restoration and revegeta-
tion, we have collected seed from throughout the northern Inte-
rior of British Columbia (52ø to 60ø N, from the Northern Rocky
Mountains to the northern Coast Range). Plants propagated from
this seed have been established in randomized neighbourhoods in
cultivated gardens in order to facilitate outcrossing and maxi-
mum seed production; no active selection is being undertaken.
All plants are labelled with their origin, and we have informa-
tion on the source of each accession (latitude, longitude,
elevation, habitat, etc.).
Species in cultivation with approximately 7 to 50 accessions
each include the following:
Asteraceae
Achillea millefolium
Anaphalis margaritacea
Arnica cordifolia
Aster conspicuus
Aster foliaceous
Cyperaceae
Carex aenea
Carex macloviana
Carex mertensii
Fabaceae
Lathyrus ochroleucus
Lupinus arcticus
Lupinus polyphyllus
Vicia americana
Onagraceae
Epilobium latifolium
Poaceae
Agrostis exarata
Bromus ciliatus
Calamagrostis canadensis
Calamagrostis rubescens
Elymus glaucus
Elymus innovatus
Elymus trachycaulus
Festuca occidentalis
Festuca saximontana
Poa alpina
Trisetum spicatum
Polemoniaceae
Polemonium pulcherrimum
Rosaceae
Dryas drummondii
Geum macrophyllum
The 2000 field season will be the last year in which this
project is supported by Forest Renewal B.C. Maintenance of
(thousands of) accession labels in all plots is very time-
consuming and expensive, and will not be continued unless this
information is going to be used for additional research. One
project which has already made use of this installation con-
sisted of a correlation of eletrophoretic and quantitative
traits in Elymus glaucus (Bryan, I.E. 1999 M.Sc. thesis, under
the direction of Kermit Ritland, University of British
Columbia).
We are particularly interested in ascertaining the degree of
outcrossing in different species, and in quantifying the degree
of genetic variability (measured using any number of methods)
within and among populations, generations, ecological zones and
geographic districts. Such topics should be very suitable for
M.Sc. students. This opportunity would be of interest to popula-
tion geneticists, evolutionary ecologists and other plant
biologists interested in genetic variability and its correlation
with morphological traits and geographic origins.
No financial support for additional research is available, but
plot maintenance and accession records represent a considerable
investment that will not have to be repeated. In addition, one
of our research partners, the Canadian Forest Service, is able
to provide free accommodation for up to two or three researchers
at their Smithers Field Station, the site of one set of common
gardens. The town of Smithers (population 5,600) is located in
the broad, pastoral Bulkley Valley, surrounded by snow-capped
peaks and marvelous outdoor recreational opportunities (kayak-
ing, hiking/trekking, trail riding, fly fishing, wilderness
camping, etc.) in Northwestern B.C. halfway between the cities
of Prince George and Prince Rupert. Smithers also has a vibrant
artistic community, with outdoor music festivals and workshops
during the summer months.
Please see http://www.bulkley.net/~symbios/native.htm for a
further description of this project and related research. Please
e-mail Dr. Phil Burton at symbios@mail.bulkley.net if you or
your students might consider working with us on the population
genetics of these species next year. Early replies would be
appreciated, so we can plan accordingly.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE IN VANCOUVER, B.C.
From: Judith Myers <myers@zoology.ubc.ca>
Biological control of purple loosestrife is having an effect at
Jericho Park, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Wetlands across northern North America have been invaded by a
European plant - purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria. A good
example of this invasion occurred in the west pond at Jericho
Park. Purple loosestrife is an attractive plant, with pretty
purple flowers. However, it is capable of displacing native
plants in wetland sites, and in the early 1990's the West Pond
and Jericho Park was nearly a monoculture of this weed. In 1993
we released 30 individuals of a European beetle Galerucella
calmariensis that feeds exclusively on purple loosestrife. These
had been reared at the Agriculture and Agrifood Canada
Laboratory in Lethbridge Alberta. In 1996 beetles collected from
a site in Ontario where they had been effective at reducing
loosestrife densities were also released at Jericho. By this
year these leaf feeding beetles have reached high densities and
are having a major impact on the loosestrife plants - most have
been killed.
Research being carried out by graduate student Madlen Denoth
(Zoology Dept., UBC) and her assistant Janis Newhouse, under the
supervision of Judy Myers, Zoology and Agricultural Sciences,
UBC) has tracked the impact of the beetles on the plants.
Beetles have now been released at a number of sites around the
lower mainland, but they have shown the greatest impact at
Jericho and several sites near Chilliwack. The research project
is looking at why the beetles are more effective at some sites
than others.
For those familiar with the history of purple loosestrife in
Jericho Park, the plants killed by beetles is a pleasant sight.
In an adjacent pond with lower purple loosestrife densities
plants have been aggressively pulled by interested citizens in
their war on loosestrife. The beetles are good dispersers so we
hope they will find new sites in the Jericho area. About 500
beetles have been moved from this site to a new location in
Langley.
In addition to the work on biological control the study is
looking at interactions between purple loosestrife and two rare
marshland plants, Sidalcea hendersonii and Caltha palustris
subsp. asarifolia, marsh marigold, to measure the potential
impact of the invader on native vegetation.
This research has been funded by the Habitat Conservation Fund
and the World Wildlife Fund.
BRYOPHYTES AS INDICATORS OF GLOBAL WARMING?
From: Jan-Peter Frahm <unb11d@mailin.uni-bonn.de>
Between 1985 and 1996, sixteen bryophyte species which have a
Mediterranean, Mediterranean Atlantic or Atlantic distribution
were found in Central Europe. Twelve were found there for the
first time, the remaining four had been found in the past but
had disappeared. These spectacular extensions of range of
several hundred kilometers were correlated by Frahm & Klaus
(1997) with an increase in mean temperature of the winter months
December, January and February by 1.5ø C. It was expected that
bryophytes from warmer parts of Europe would not react to warmer
summers as strongly as they would to milder winters. At the same
time, the 3.5ø C January isotherm of these months, which had
crossed Paris before, had moved 400 km east and ran now through
Germany. Since the publication of this paper, eleven more
species have been discovered as new to Central Europe. This may
be only the `tip of the iceberg', because of the relatively low
number of floristic studies being done there. We can therefore
argue that there are undoubtedly more species and more records
because of the few bryologists doing field work in Central
Europe.
There are still a number of colleagues who argue that these
species had perhaps always been there but had simply been over-
looked. This argument can generally not be excluded; however,
were 27 species overlooked before and discovered in a period of
12 years? It is an ecologically simple conclusion that these
species adapted to mild climates following the January isotherm.
Bryophytes can react very quickly and easily to such climatic
changes, especially changes that occur during winter months.
Finally, there have always been climatic changes to which plants
react, but there have never been such dramatic climatic and
floristic changes in such a short period of time in the past two
centuries.
This increase in the number of bryophyte species in Central
Europe was interpreted as the reaction of organisms to present
climatic fluctuations in that region. These climatic changes
are, however, not confined to Europe but are global in nature.
Therefore I would like to put the question here whether such
floristic changes in bryophytes have been found elsewhere in the
world. Have any similar effects been observed in other parts of
the world? Effects of global warming on many other groups of
organisms have been noted. Can bryophytes be used as indicators
of global warming?
Frahm, J.-P. & D. Klaus. 1997. Moose als Indikatoren von
Klimafluktuationen in Mitteleuropa. Erdkunde 51: 181-190.
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