In the last couple of decades you might have seen reports of some hybrid swans (Mute Swan x Trumpter Swan) in our region. In her latest long-form article, CVN member Véronique McIntyre collects those reports and delves into the behaviour and biology of swans to shed light on this phenomenon. In her inimitable style, Véronique presents the story of the swans as a conversation between a hybrid swan and a Trumpeter Swan. Be sure to check out the article here: Hybrid Swans: Mixed-up and Proud of It.

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

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CVN member Véronique M. explains in her latest long-form article what the gametophyte and sporophyte forms of a moss are and the roles they play in the sexual reproduction of mosses. As always, she provides her own field photos to illustrate the concepts. If you’ve ever wondered what the term “alternation of generations” means, learn all about it in the article Life Cycle of Mosses.

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

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Read this important article here: “Biodiversity and a New Species of Gastrotrich in Strathcona Provincial Park?“.

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

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In the latest in our occasional series of long-form articles, Véronique McIntyre dug deep into the life histories and origins of the herbaceous members of the dogwood genus (Cornus) to find some lessons in anatomy, ecology and evolution. Learn all about the lives and history of the Alaskan bunchberry and just plain bunchberry in her article: “Some call us pop flowers, others, bunchberries.”

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

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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.

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In a second fascinating long-form article by CVN member Véronique McIntyre, we learn about the why’s and how’s of sea-lion behaviour like that in this photo. Read the article here: “Some Like It Hot: Thermoregulation in Sea Lions“.

If you missed Véronique’s intriguing first article about taildropper slugs, you can read it here. Or at any time you can find the long-form articles using the Articles blog post category in the sidebar.

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In a fascinating and amusing article titled “Life Over Limb: Conversation with a Taildropper Slug“, CVN member Véronique McIntyre describes this unusual creature and how and why it manages to sever its own tail section and still survive. Read the article here.

This is the second submission in a new facet of this site devoted to long-form writing from CVN members, following the publication yesterday of a book review. Each of these contributions will have its own page on the site and be introduced by a blog post (like this one). You can access these contributions any time using the new blog post categories “Articles” and “Book Reviews” in the sidebar, or the Search box, also in the sidebar.

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