Comox Valley Nature invites its members and the public to CVN’s October general meeting. where you can hear the following keynote presentation by our guest speaker:
Title: Bioblitzes and rare plants: Keeping current on BC plant diversity
Speaker: Dr. Gerry Allen
Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025
Time: 3:00 p.m. PT
Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
(Photo: Ian Cruickshank, CC-BY-NC-iNaturalist-Apr-2023)
BC has the highest plant diversity in Canada due to the high diversity of ecosystems. The BC Conservation Data Centre maintains a complete and regularly revised list of all plant species in the province (whether common or rare, native or not). However, we want to know more than just the list. Where are species found? In what habitats? Are they getting more common or less? Bioblitzes (concentrated searches for species in a particular time and place) provide new information, especially for less well-known groups like mosses and lichens. Dr. Allen will describe some plant biodiversity results from recent bioblitzes on Calvert and Quadra islands. She will also discuss rare species, which typically require more targeted searches. An example is the discovery of many new populations of the currently threatened Hibberson’s trillium (Trillium hibbersonii). Continuing field observations by knowledgeable observers are an essential part of these discoveries and are critical to keeping diversity assessments current.
About the speaker
Dr. Gerry Allen is a retired professor of biology but continues working on a number of ongoing projects. Her research is broadly focused on the evolution, ecology and conservation biology of plants. Current and recent projects in her lab include the ecology of arctic-alpine plants, especially migration in response to postglacial climate change, and the reproductive ecology of rare plants. She was also the curator of the University of Victoria Herbarium for many years.
More about the meeting
This will be a hybrid meeting (in-person and videoconference). We encourage members and the public to attend the in-person meeting. Members (only) who cannot attend can participate via videoconference. The link to join the Zoom meeting will be sent to members by email before the meeting.
After the keynote presentation there will be a break with coffee/tea, goodies and socializing, followed by the business part of the meeting. This consists mainly of brief reports from our interest groups and projects, an opportunity for guests to learn more about what we do.
