New article: A dwarf mistletoe’s story

Posted on November 19, 2023 by web_admin

If you’ve ever wondered about the dwarf mistletoe that you can see parasitizing coniferous trees in our forests, you can find out all about it in the latest addition to our occasional series of long-form articles, as Véronique McIntyre listens in on a conversation between a mistletoe and its host, a fallen hemlock branch: A Dwarf Mistletoe’s Story.

Learn about the adaptations that let this flowering plant succeed as a parasite. And you might be surprised to realize that, beyond its deleterious effects on the host, it has a potential ecological benefit.

You can always find this and other long-form articles via the Articles category in the sidebar.

Posted in Articles, Ecology, Evolution, Plants and fungi | Comments Off on New article: A dwarf mistletoe’s story

Learn about climate adaptation at the local scale

Posted on November 16, 2023 by web_admin

Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to the following free online lecture facilitated by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists:

Title: Beyond Climate Change: the nuts and bolts of adaptation at the local scale
Speaker: Dr. Ruth Waldick
Date: Sunday, December 10, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT

See the registration link below.

Climate change has become the primary explanation for ongoing environmental disasters. But is this the whole story? Dr. Waldick asks the questions “what creates vulnerability to climate change?” and “what can be done locally to reduce vulnerability?” from a model watershed on a Gulf Island in coastal BC that is a microcosm of the larger challenge of adaptation.

About the speaker

Ruth Waldick, Ph.D., is an ecologist and population biologist who has worked at several universities and with the Government of Canada. She sits as a Director with Transition Salt Spring and the Institute for Multidisciplinary Ecological Research in the Salish Sea. She is a fan of collaboration, which has created the CARL experimental watershed study area on Salt Spring Island.


Registration

“Seating capacity” for the talk is limited, and you need to register in advance. You can check the computer requirements for attendees here.

Register here

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the webinar.

Posted in Climate, Conservation and Restoration, Guest Speakers | Comments Off on Learn about climate adaptation at the local scale

Merville Woods fungi

Posted on October 19, 2023 by web_admin

From an email by Jocie to the Botany/Mycology Group on October 18. Click a photo to enlarge it.

We had a great time looking at a bonanza of fungi at Merville Woods on October 12! I got a bit carried away trying to figure out so many fungi, not to mention sorting the huge number of photos my daughter took! 

Special thanks to Véronique and Clara for the photos. You can view a small selection of the photos below, and download a PDF file containing them all as a slide presentation.

Download a list of all of the fungi that we saw on the walk. The photos correspond roughly to the list, but note that not every observed species has a photo. Special thanks to Alison for checking over the list. 

Amanita muscaria (button form)
Orange-yellow bonnet (Atheniella aurantiidisca)
Clitocybe sp.
Woolly velvet polypore (Onnia tomentosa)
Owl eyes (Phellodon tomentosus)
Scaly tooth (Sarcodon squamosus)
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Recording for talk on 21st century forest solutions

Posted on October 16, 2023 by web_admin

Comox Valley Nature members and others recently attended the following webinar presented by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists:

Title: 21st-Century Forest Solutions: How Can We Slow Down or Stop: Heat Domes, Droughts, Forest Fires, & Flooding?
Speaker: Erik Piikkila
Date: Sunday, Cotober 15, 2023

If you missed this event or would like to see it again, CSEB has made the recording available here. To access it you will need to provide your name and email address.

For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.

Posted in Climate, Conservation and Restoration, Ecology, Guest Speakers | Comments Off on Recording for talk on 21st century forest solutions

Hairtrigger Lake moments

Posted on October 13, 2023 by web_admin

From an email by Jocie to the Botany/Mycology Group on October 9. Click a photo to enlarge it.

Here are a few photos from a recent hike I did to one of my favourite spots: Hairtrigger Lake. Hairtrigger has lovely views and reflections, and the presence of large sandstone rocks is intriguing. The subalpine colours are spectacular this year! Here are a few highlights from the day.

  1. Frosted clumps of tufted clubrush (Trichophorum caespitosum)
  1. Pond view with scarlet leaves of blueberry
  1. Colours: mix of white rhodo (whorled leaves) and blueberry species
  1. More colours!
  1. Hairtrigger Lake and Mt. Albert Edward view
  1. View from the end of the lake
  1. Large sandstone rock along the lake edge
  1. A brown sphagnum moss in the shallows (not sure of the species)
  1. A craggy looking fungus: Turbinellus kauffmanii
  1. Cladonia lichen, maybe the “toy soldiers” (Cladonia bellidiflora)
  1. Sitka mountain ash (Sorbus sitchensis) in Paradise Meadows
Posted in Plants and fungi | Comments Off on Hairtrigger Lake moments

Learn about BC Nature’s work on Key Biodiversity Areas

Posted on October 3, 2023 by web_admin

Comox Valley Nature invites its members and the general public to the following free online lecture, facilitated by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists:

Title: Key Biodiversity Areas and Protected Areas: B.C. Nature Projects in 2023
Speakers: Liam Ragan and Kephra Beckett (BC Nature)
Date: Sunday, November 19, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT

See the registration link below.

Western Grebe in the K’ómoks IBA

BC Nature is the provincial lead for the Municipal Protected Areas Project and Key Biodiversity Areas. Join us as we discuss ongoing work to understand and protect biodiversity throughout BC. We will have a focus on the Comox area, the way in which we work to collaborate with First Nations at every stage of the process, and how clubs can play a pivotal role in conservation success.

About the speakers




Liam Ragan is BC Nature’s Provincial Coordinator for Key Biodiversity Areas and Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas.










Kephra Beckett is BC Nature’s Conservation Coordinator.








Registration

“Seating capacity” for the talk is limited, and you need to register in advance. You can check the computer requirements for attendees here.

Register here

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the webinar.

If you are new to Comox Valley Nature, find out more about us here.

Although CVN lectures are free, donations of any size from non-members who attend are always appreciated ($4.00 is suggested).

Posted in BC Nature, Conservation and Restoration, Guest Speakers | Comments Off on Learn about BC Nature’s work on Key Biodiversity Areas

Learn about 21st century forest solutions

Posted on September 25, 2023 by web_admin

Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to the following free online lecture presented by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists:

Title: 21st-Century Forest Solutions: How Can We Slow Down or Stop: Heat Domes, Droughts, Forest Fires, & Flooding?
Speaker: Erik Piikkila
Date: Sunday, October 15, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT

See the registration link below.

We’re not “seeing the forest for the trees.” We don’t seem to be able to see the cause and effect or cumulative effects of forestry and forest policies. But we see their impacts and results:  droughts, wildfires, floods, heat domes, species losses.  With an ecosystem-first focus, repurposed forestry systems and techniques can be used to restore ecosystem functioning, health, and resiliency.

About the speaker

Over 30 years, Erik Piikkila has worked or been trained (many of the ‘ologies) in forests in BC, Washington, Oregon, California, and Finland. He has performed nearly every woods job by measuring/counting trees, laying out cutblocks/roads, and logging. He has also monitored forest companies’ harvesting and silviculture operations, permits, and data. Recently, he has been involved with forest/watershed ENGOs, and providing natural history and forest ecology walks to students, citizens, scientists, foresters, and government officials. Now he is working with First Nations to thin forests with multiple ecological objectives and benefits.

Registration

“Seating capacity” for the talk is limited, and you need to register in advance. You can check the computer requirements for attendees here.

Register here

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the webinar.

Posted in Climate, Conservation and Restoration, Ecology, Guest Speakers | Comments Off on Learn about 21st century forest solutions

Recording for talk on transforming tree farms into forests

Posted on September 25, 2023 by web_admin
Creating an artificial nurse log

Comox Valley Nature members and others recently attended the following webinar presented by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists:

Title: On Transforming Tree-Farms into Forests
Speaker: Tal Engel
Date: Sunday, September 24, 2023

If you missed this event or would like to see it again, CSEB has made the recording available here. To access it you will need to provide your name and email address.

For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.

Posted in Ecology, Guest Speakers | Comments Off on Recording for talk on transforming tree farms into forests

Plants of Miracle Beach Park, part 2

Posted on September 22, 2023 by web_admin

From an email by Jocie to the Botsny/Mycology Group on September 19. Click a photo to enlarge it.

Here’s “Part 2” of the September 15 walk, featuring plants from the Black Creek gravel flats (accessed just upstream from the bridge in Miracle Beach Park). Low water levels (though not good!) give the botanist a chance to explore the creek & river beds. It’s an interesting ephemeral landscape in late summer. Hard to believe it will all be washed away soon. 

  1. Black Creek view.
  1. American brooklime (Veronica beccabunga).
  1. Blue skullcap or one-sided skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora).
  1. Field mint (Mentha arvensis).
  1. Musk monkeyflower (Erythranthe moschatus). A lovely little creekside flower with slippery leaves. Special!
  1. Lung liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) was a nice surprise. Note the pronounced dark line along the middle of the thallus.
  1. Burdock seeds (Arctium minus). Joan told us a fun story about how she and her childhood friends used to build things with these stick-together seed heads. Note the hooked tips, like mini crochet hooks, which were the inspiration for the invention of Velcro.
  1. Burdock blooms from back in early August.
  1. Douglas aster (Aster subspicatus).
  1. Small-flowered bulrush (Scirpus microcarpus). A large, spectacular plant in the sedge family.
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Plants of Miracle Beach Park, part 1

Posted on September 22, 2023 by web_admin

From an email by Jocie to the Botany/Mycology Group on September 19. Click a photo to enlarge it.

On September 15 we took advantage of a sunny day to check out Miracle Beach Park, visiting the Black Creek estuary and plants along the exposed gravel bars of the creek bed. 

So many wonderful plants, and still quite a few blooms! 

Here is “Part 1” featuring some mostly common plants of the salt marsh and estuary. 

  1. Black Creek estuary view.
  1. American searocket (Cakile edentula). A profusion of delicate purple flowers.
  1. Close-up of the searocket flowers.
  1. Oregon gumweed (Grindelia stricta). Bright yellow flowers and sticky buds that exude a white latex.
  1. Brass buttons (Cotula coronopifolia). A South African exotic, invading our estuaries.
  1. Dune grass (Elymus mollis). One of our most spectacular native grasses and a great shoreline stabilizer. Strappy blue-green leaves and lofty seed heads. It’s criminal that so many people remove it from their beachside properties!
  1. Orache (Atriplex sp.). Very abundant at the estuary.
  1. Seaside plantain (Plantago maritima). Note the rubbery, grooved leaves.
  1. Horned seablite (Suaeda calceoliformis). I found this in August, and I’d never seen it at the Black Creek estuary before (it does blend right in with the pickleweed). I couldn’t locate it on our walk, but I went back a few hours later and found the darn thing! Note the pointed leaf tips, different from the rounded tips of the Salicornia (pickleweed).
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