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.
CVN members and the general public are invited to attend the following free online lecture hosted by the Strathcona Wilderness Institute, and facilitated by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists:
Title: Observations on the fish and aquatic ecology of Buttle Lake
Speaker: Paige Stuart
Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
See the registration link below.
Situated at the heart of Strathcona Provincial Park, Buttle Lake, which was once home to large trout populations, has never recovered from the twin impacts of the building of the Upper Campbell Dam (1958) and the mining impacts of the Westmin Mine at Myra Falls. The impacts have drawn attention to short studies, notably by Dr. Tom Northcote from 1962 to 2000. Paige Stuart has reviewed the literature to date and carried out a series of preliminary observations to determine knowledge gaps and understand the situation limiting recovery.
Paige Stuart is a Research Student at SWI during the 2024 season.
“Seating capacity” for the talk is limited, and you need to register in advance. You can check the computer requirements for attendees here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the webinar.
CVN members and others are invited to participate in the following two-day workshop organized by the Strathcona Wilderness Institute as part of its “Discovering our Biodiversity” series exploring the natural history of Strathcona Provincial Park.
Title: Subalpine Mycology Workshop (Sep 21) with Mycology Hike to Divers Lake (Sep 22)
Presenters: Andy MacKinnon, Thom O’Dell, Erin Feldman and Bryce Kendrick
Date: Saturday, September 21, 2024 and Sunday, September 22, 2024
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, PT
Location: Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre, Paradise Meadows.
Cost: $70.00 (students: $25.00)
Maximum number of participants: 15
See below for registration instructions.
The 6th annual SWI Subalpine Mycology Workshop will take place on September 21 in the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre, Paradise Meadows, followed on September 22 by a hike to Divers Lake. This year the team of talented experts includes Andy MacKinnon, Thom O’Dell, Erin Feldman and Bryce Kendrick, all eminent mycologists with extensive experience in both instruction and guiding field forays.
On Saturday they will have in-class slide presentations and ID sessions, combined with forays out into the Meadows, in both the morning and afternoon, separated by a lunch featuring wild mushroom soup.
On Sunday, SWI Director Loys Maingon will lead a hike through the fungus-rich forested slopes on the trail to Divers Lake, which lies in the valley below and to the west of Paradise Meadows.
Andy MacKinnon is a forest ecologist with research interests in plant-fungal partnerships. He is Past-President of SVIMS, and is a co-author of RBCM’s “Mushrooms of British Columbia”.
Thom O’Dell, Ph.D. has over 35 years experience studying and teaching about mushrooms.
Erin Feldman, MSc, is a research scientist turned mushroom cultivator and educator with more than 10 years sharing fungal facts through classes, forest walks and biodiversity surveys.
Bryce Kendrick, Ph.D, D.Sc., F.R.S.C. has been working with fungi for more than 70 years and has published more than 300 papers and books over that period.
The Botany/Mycology Group’s July field trip was popular with members. On July 2, the group observed a variety of plants and fungi in the lower part of Rosewall Creek Provincial Park, with a particular eye out for these species: eyelash cup fungus, oak fern, spiny wood fern, devil’s club, black gooseberry, clasping twistedstalk, goatsbeard, and enchanter’s nightshade.
Also, co-leader Karen C., who recently completed a course on grasses, helped the group identify a few grasses and sedges along the way. Karen recommends the following field guides for grasses and sedges, both published by Oregon State University Press:
Another highlight was examining an amazing nurse stump with several trees of different species growing from it.
The group’s other co-leader Véronique has created another great photographic identification guide for many of the species observed on this walk using her own photos and additional research. Below is a selection of images from the guide. Download the full guide here (PDF, 6.8 MB).
A small contingent of Botany/Mycology Group members enjoyed the group’s June field trip to the Comox Lake Bluffs Ecological Reserve on June 4. They explored both the forested area adjacent to the reserve and trails inside the reserve leading to the bluffs with their uncommon dry-site plant communities, including some plants rare in this region.
The group’s co-leader Véronique has created another very useful photographic identification guide to many of the species observed on this walk using her own photos and additional research. Below is a selection of images from the guide. Download the guide here (PDF, 16.1 MB).
The Strathcona Wilderness Institute is offering a workshop this summer on identifying lichens in Strathcona Provincial Park:
Title: Field Identification of Basic Lichens in Strathcona Provincial Park
Date: July 27, 2024
Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre, Paradise Meadows
Cost: $65 – includes a copy of Field Guide to Basic Lichens of Strathcona Provincial Park
Registration: Email
Limit: 15 participants
Instructor: Loys Maingon
Here is SWI’s description of the workshop:
This event is one in a series of “Discovering our Biodiversity” Workshops held each summer to promote the amazing wealth of flora and fauna in Strathcona Provincial Park. This specific workshop, led by lichen expert Loys Maingon (RPBio), provides an introduction to field identification of lichens found in Strathcona Provincial Park . There will be an in-class slide presentation and discussion in the morning in the Ruth Masters Nature Hall (lower floor of the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre). After lunch the group will go out into the Meadows for on-site observation of lichens in the Paradise Meadows area.
Preregistration is required, with acceptance on a first paid, first served basis.
The identification guide linked here was updated on July 13 with a few minor changes, replacing the version that was posted originally.
The Botany/Mycology Group held an extra outing in June (on June 12) at the Puntledge forest with the goal of finding mycoheterotrophs. A mycoheterotroph is a plant that gets its nutrients from a fungus during at least part of its lifecycle.
The group’s co-leader Véronique has created another very useful photographic identification guide to the mycoheterotroph species observed on this walk using her own photos and additional research. Below is a small selection of images from the guide. Download the guide here (PDF, 5.4 MB) [click a photo to see the uncropped image].
Comox Valley Nature recently hosted the following presentation at our May general meeting:
Title: Understanding our Watersheds “One Puzzle Piece at a Time”
Speaker: Dave Weaver (Beaufort Watershed Stewards)
Date: Sunday, May 26, 2024
If you missed this event or would like to see it again, a recording is available here (MP4, 90 MB if downloaded).
For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.
The Botany/Mycology Group’s May field trip took place on May 14 at Little River Nature Park and was well-attended.
This CVRD nature park has three special ecosystems which the group explored:
Many of the spring flowers on the beach plain were showing up on this trip.
The group’s co-leader Véronique has created another very useful photographic identification guide to most of the species observed on this walk using her own photos and additional research. Below is a small selection of images from the guide. Download the guide here (PDF, 10.3 MB).
Comox Valley Nature is hosting a workshop by Birds Canada to promote interest in its Coastal Waterbird Survey and Beached Bird Survey citizen-science programs.
CVN members and the general public are invited to this two-part workshop to be held on June 9 during World Oceans Weekend. You can attend either one or both parts of the workshop.
Refresh your birding skills with a presentation + trivia about the local coastal waterbird species, and learn more about the coastal programs at Birds Canada, and how you can help monitor the health of our coasts!
Part 1: Indoor presentation:
Speaker: Rémi Torrenta (Birds Canada)
Date: Sunday, June 9, 2024
Time: 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. PT
Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
Part 2: Coastal bird walk:
Discover the birds and biodiversity of Goose Spit, and practice your bird ID and counting. Pairs of binoculars and spotting scope will be provided if you don’t have your own. Dress for the weather.
Leader: Rémi Torrenta (Birds Canada)
Date: Sunday, June 9, 2024
Time: 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. PT
Location: Goose Spit, Comox. Meet at the parking lot with the toilets.
Participants who are interested in joining the team of Coastal Waterbird Surveyors or Beached Bird Surveyors will have the opportunity later this summer to receive specific training, equipment, and identification guides (coastal waterbird ID guide and/or beached bird ID guide) for the surveys.
Rémi Torrenta is a biologist and the British Columbia Projects Coordinator at Birds Canada. He obtained his master’s degree in France, then a PhD in Ecology at Université de Moncton (NB), and he has been involved in avian research for the past 12 years. Rémi is currently managing a dozen programs in British Columbia, including all the citizen science programs, species-at-risk research, monitoring programs, Urban Birds, and Outreach/Education programs. He is convinced that conservation goals are better achieved through public education and citizen science.
Birds Canada is a non-profit organization, and the country’s only national organization dedicated to bird conservation. The BC Coastal Waterbird Survey helps track populations of living waterbirds on our coasts, and the BC Beached Bird Survey helps track bird die-off and bird mortality events. These are the most well-known of Birds Canada’s citizen science programs in BC.
