May 2017 plant hunt summary

A total of 2291 records were contributed by Dave Jolly and Brian Popelier for the month of May.

The beginning stretch of the Bruce Trail was hiked at Queenston Heights revealed 6 Butternut (Juglans cinerea) that have not been assessed.  These records will be shared with the Bruce Trail Conservancy and Niagara Region Conservation Authority.

Hiking along the Bruce Trail (McCormick Road Trail) near Dundas by Dave and Talia Plaskett also revealed 2 Butternuts needing assessment.

Nine new records were contributed to the database; Crawe's Sedge (Carex crawii), Inflated Narrow Leaved Sedge (Carex grisea), Northern Red Currant (Ribes rubrum), Peck's Sedge (Carex peckii), Pubescent Sedge (Carex hirtifolia), and Wood Witlow-grass contribtued by Brian and Muhlenberg's Sedge (Carex muhlenbergii var. muhlenbergii), Swamp Pin Oak (Quercus palustris), and Yellow Cordyalis (Cordyalis flavula) from Dave.

While leading bird hikes at Point Pelee National Park Dave discovered provincially rare Yellow Cordyalis in full bloom - a new record for the database.  This plant was first observed by Dave on Middle Island in June, 2008 when he was sent to survey rare plants, but it was not flowering at that time.

Photo: Dave Jolly

A total of 9 Species at Risk (SAR), and 17 species of special concern vascular plants were surveyed.  Four records of special concern Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii) were observed flowering in Essex region between May 6th and 17th.

To view the monthly summary go to May, 2017 summary

April 2017 plant hunt summary

The month of April began with a couple of warm days, which brought an early spring with some trees and shrubs documented several weeks ahead of previous years.  Historically, April was one of the most biodiverse since 2010 with a total of 126 species recorded across 10 counties and municipalities.  This month's records were, however, surpassed by the all time record of 210 species set in 2012.

We would like to welcome back Talia Plaskett for the 2017 Field Botany Mentorship Program.  We were introduced to Talia in the April 2016 plant hunt summary article.  Talia shall be joining Senior Botanist Dave Jolly while surveying vascular plants along the Bruce Trail in the Hamilton and Dundas areas.  To date, Talia and Dave explored the Sulphur Springs Road section (managed by the Iroquois Bruce Trail club) of the Bruce Trail on April 29th.  This beautiful 5 km section wraps through undulating topography of rock and deciduous forest.  Together, Talia and Dave documented 21 flowering date records and applied Ecological Land Classification (ELC) methodology to classify the vegetation, soil, hydrology and geology into distinct vegetation units.

The rarest plant observed in the month of April was Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa).  Interestingly, the first EARTHQUEST (Canada) for the Environment record of this species was documented by Mr. Brian Popelier, Land Stewardship Coordinator & Terrestrial Ecologist with the Bruce Trail Conservancy and a good friend of EARTHQUEST (Canada).  To add information to knowledge gaps on this species the population that Brian observed on April 9, 2010 in Elgin county has been inventoried every year since 2014.  Insect pollinators have been recorded since 2015 and include Tachnid flies (Tachnidae family) and Sweat bees (Halictidae family).  This population has remained relatively stable between 107 and 288 total stems.  The good news is that the number of seedlings has been steadily increasing with 19 found in 2017 surveys.

A significant contribution to the month of April was the completion of an ELC and vegetation survey for Port Burwell Provincial Park.  This project was initiated on May 14,2016 with assistance from the Otter Valley Naturalists and Park staff.  A total of 420 species of vascular plants, including 3 Ontario Species at Risk, 4 species of special concern (S1 - S3 ranked), 20 regionally rare within the Carolinian forest region, and 25 locally rare within Elgin county were recorded.  The report was submitted to Ontario Parks on April 30th.

View the summary for the April, 2017 plant hunt summary

March 2017 Plant hunt summary

The spring started roughly two weeks ahead of normal flowering times with the earliest flowering date records for Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) to date, documented on March 2nd.  Bouts of colder weather , however, have now delayed spring considerably.

Only a total of 11 species were recorded, falling short of the all time record set in March, 2012 with 80 species.

One new record was documented for Elgin county - Yellow Woodland Anemone (Anemone ranunculoides), which brought the total number of vascular plant species documented by EARTHQUEST staff, volunteers and students, for Elgin up to 803 taxa.

To view the monthly summary for March simply go to this link March 2017 summary

Help celebrate the 150th birthday of Canada by joining courses, ecotours, guided hikes, or workshops.  This ad will appear in the Rondeau Provincial Park 2017 Information Guide.

I am pleased to announce that Talia Plaskett has returned in 2017 to gain field botany skills through the Field Botany Mentorship Program.  I greatly look forward to working with her again as we explore the Bruce Trail, and some other EARTHQUEST projects cataloguing the unique flora of the region.

May 2016 Plant hunt summary

The month of May, 2016  began  5 - 7 days behind 2015 for blooming periods, but caught up with the blooming periods of 2015 by mid May, 2016.  Floristic surveys for the month of May were varied and covered a total of 21 counties, or regional municipalities within the Mixed deciduous, Carolinian and Boreal forest regions of Ontario.

The surveys began with cataloguing vegetation during an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) within an 8 ha Significant Woodland (SW) in Niagara region on May 1st.  During this excursion the entire oak-hickory deciduous forest component of this SW was found to be full of provincially rare Red Hickory (Carya glabra), while the open woodland contained provincially and federally endangered Butternut (Juglans cinerea).

On May 14, 2016 EARTHQUEST launched the official kick-off for the update to the vascular plants of Port Burwell Provincial Park with the Otter Valley Naturalists (OVN).

Photo: Sara Lattanzio (from left to right; Dave Jolly, Joe Stephenson, Peter Staley, Ron Allensan and Tom Manley)

A total of 175 species of vascular plants were observed by Dave and other members of the OVN with several plant specimens of a western pine species - Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), pointed out by Ron, as the field trip highlight.  Thanks to Ron Douglas-fir was a new addition to the updated master plant species list.  Other new additions to the plant list include; Amur Maple (Acer ginnala), Chinese Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), regionally rare Azure Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiensis), Goatgrass (Aegilops ovata), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium), Northern Dewberry (Rubus flagellaris), and American Mountain-ash (Sorbus americana).  Also noted was a sapling Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata), which are relatively rare within the Park boundaries.  This was an excellent way to kick off this project compared to the 185 plant species originally documented in mid September, 2001, which was cancelled due to the 911 event.  

For those that missed the May 14th kick-off for the plants of Port Burwell PP update - I'll be giving a talk at the Park on Friday July 15th at 4 pm, which is also .  Simple meet at the Recreation Field & Interpretive Center within the Park.  We'll be hiking the Ravine Creek trail in search of plants to contribute to the official master plant list for Port Burwell PP.  

On May 24th a field visit to another EARTHQUEST project between Sudbury and Manitoulin Island on behalf of Moggy Environmental revealed 8 new plant records for Manitoulin county, including tiny (plant depicted in the photo is approximately 8 cm) Creeping Snowberry (Gaultheria hispidus) - a new record for the Plants of Ontario database.

Photo:  Dave JollyCreeping Snowberry (Gaultheria hispidus) in bloom

Saturday May 28th covered 3.2 km along the Bruce Trail near Iroquois Heights Conservation Area (CA) on behalf of the Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC).  Courtney Baldo, a volunteer Field Botany Mentorship participant assisted with this endeavour.  Courtney joined the mentorship program in April, 2016

Photo: Dave Jolly
Courtney taking notes along Bruce Trail near Iroquois Heights CA

A total of 20 families, 24 genera and 27 species were documented.  Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) was regionally rare.  Common Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and Hair Fescue (Festuca filiformis) were new discoveries added to the Bruce Trail Project.  

Elsewhere along the Bruce Trail, or on BTC property Brian Popelier of the BTC surveyed 5 counties cataloguing 490 records.  Of these, Brian added 4 new records to the Plants of Ontario database; False Melic Grass (Schizachne purpurascens), Grooved Meadow Grass (Poa alsoides), Inflated Narrow Leaved Sedge (Carex grisea), and White Bear Sedge (Carex albursina).

In summary, 310 species were observed, including 4 provincially and federally listed Species at Risk, and 9 provincially rare plants.

To view all the plants discovered please visit the May monthly summary 

April, 2016 Plant hunt summary

We are delighted to announce that 3 young budding Volunteer Field Botanists have been selected for the Field Botany Mentorship program.  The program initiated on April 30th with a hike along the Bruce Trail in the scenic waterfall laced Dundas Valley to collect data for the Bruce Trail Conservancy.

Talia Plaskett. One of the Field Botanists of the Volunteer Field Botanist Mentorship Program
Photo: Talia Plaskett

The month of April experienced some unusually warm days, but most days were cool.  Subsequently, some plants received a good jump-start to the growing season, but the cooler days delayed other plants.  Overall, the plants blooming now are on schedule compared to the past ten years of data collection.  For example, White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) was first observed flowering on April 24th

A total of 77 species were observed among 7 counties and regional municipalities surveyed.  Highlights were 1 new record for the EARTHQUEST Plants of Ontario database - Fumewort (Corydalis solida) plus 3 new records for Halton region  -  provincially rare Bristly Buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus var. hispidus), Fumewort, and Bethlehem sage (Pulmonaria officinalis).

The most significant record belongs to Bristly Buttercup.  There are no Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) Element Occurrence records for Halton region, so the EARTHQUEST record would be considered new for the NHIC.

Bristly Buttercup (R. hispidus var. hispidus)
Photo: Dave Jolly

Download your copy of the April, 2016 plant hunt summary.

March, 2016 Plant hunt summary

March marks the 10th year anniversary of our first flowering date record collected on March 26, 2006 for White Elm (Ulmus americana).  Over this time, over 55 surveyors have recorded plants across 15,451 ha of natural areas assessing 2524 Ecological Land Classification polygons on 36 environmental projects.  Since 2006 patterns in plant rarity have emerged with some interesting trends.  These will be highlighted at talk on "The State of Elgin County's Wild Plants in the 21st Century: Patterns and Trends in Rarity, Abundance and Distribution" for the Otter Valley Naturalists scheduled for May 9, 2016 at the Vienna Community Centre in Vienna, Ontario.

A few warmer days in March gave spring a jump start with some plants blooming a few weeks earlier than average.  Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) began flowering on March 9.  This is consistent with the onset of blooming in 2012, which was one of the warmest springs recorded during our 10 year sojourn conducting plant surveys.  Cold spells, however, delayed flowering resulting in plants blooming during their normal periods.

An early record of regionally rare (R2 in the Carolinian forest region - source: EARTHQUEST Plants of Ontario database) American Hazel (Corylus americana) was observed on March 24, 2016 in Norfolk county.

Photo: Dave Jolly

The earliest record for this species was recorded on March 20, 2012.  Note the 3 lobed calyx - indicative of Corylus and Betula genera within the Birch/Betulaceae family.

A total of 19 species were recorded among 5 counties in southern Ontario.  This did not beat the March, 2012 total of 80 species, but did beat all other previous years.

To view the March plant hunt summary please visit our website;

http://www.earthquestcanada.ca/March2016summary.pdf

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EARTHQUEST (Canada) for the Environment is an environmental organization established in 1997, specializing in botanical surveys, Species at Risk (SAR), Environmental Impact Studies and consultation for First Nations.  The EARTHQUEST Biological Field School was opened in 2004 as a private vocational institution that provides skill upgrades to professionals and individuals in the environmental industry.

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