Recent records of telamonioid species of Cortinarius (Agaricales: Cortinariaceae) in New Brunswick, Canada

Eight species of Cortinarius (webcaps) subgenus Telamonia and two other telamonioid Cortinarius species are reported from New Brunswick, Canada. Internal transcribed spacer sequences of these were used to build a phylogenetic tree confirming species identifications and relationships to relevant material, especially types and other Canadian collections. Descriptions and photographs of fresh material and microscopic features are provided. Habitat details, particularly potential mycorrhizal partners and dominant bryophytes, were recorded for each collection and compared with published records. Seven species, Cortinarius caninoides, Cortinarius cicindela, Cortinarius fulvescens, Cortinarius harvardensis, Cortinarius plumulosus, Cortinarius pseudobiformis, and Cortinarius valgus are new distribution records for New Brunswick, and C. plumulosus is apparently a first record for North America. Because these species have rarely been reported, they have yet to be given common names

A substantial eastern disjunction of Douglas’ Knotweed (Polygonum douglasii Greene, Polygonaceae) in New Brunswick, Canada

We report an isolated population of the native annual Douglas’ Knotweed (Polygonum douglasii Greene) from a dry, south-facing outcrop of conglomerate and sandstone at Big Bluff, near Sussex Corner, New Brunswick, Canada, consisting of about 2500 plants in 2018 and 2022. This occurrence is disjunct by ~450 km from the eastern limit of the known range of Douglas’ Knotweed in southwestern Maine, USA. The nearest known occurrence in Canada is in southern Quebec, ~660 km from Big Bluff. Several lines of evidence indicate that the population in New Brunswick is native. New state records for Wisconsin and Alaska found in online data sources are also verified

Evidence of River Otter (Lontra canadensis) recolonization of Prince Edward Island, Canada

River Otter (Lontra canadensis) was extirpated from Prince Edward Island (PEI) in the early 1900s as a result of habitat loss and overexploitation. Although there were isolated and sporadic occurrences in PEI coastal and inland waters pre-1975, only anecdotal reports of tracks or sightings of the species had been documented in the 21st century, until an adult male otter was captured in a beaver trap in 2016. Since then, seven additional individuals have been collected opportunistically or as by-catch of beaver trapping, including an adult female and a kit (juvenile). Camera traps have also revealed what appears to be a family group in central PEI. A growing body of evidence strongly suggests a resident River Otter population on PEI. The island is separated from the mainland by the Northumberland Strait, which has a minimum width of 13 km of salt water. River Otters have naturally recolonized PEI by dispersing across the Northumberland Strait

An observation of incest avoidance in Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)

Free-ranging Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) tends to avoid inbreeding, but there is no information about how they manage this avoidance. Our observation of a female wolf in Yellowstone National Park actively rebuffing her father’s sexual advances but then copulating with a distantly related male is the first and only report of one means by which wolf pack members avoid inbreeding

Limited evidence for the influence of the physical structure and floristics of habitat on a boreal forest bird community

Studies conducted at regional and continental scales show that avian richness, community composition, and abundance are associated with variation in the vegetation physical structure and community composition (floristics) within broad habitat types. The relative contributions of physical structure and floristics are contested, and relationships are often taxon-specific. We used 110 microphone arrays deployed across 90 sampling locations and two breeding seasons to survey an avian community in the boreal forest in Labrador, Canada. Our objectives were (1) to describe the avian community of an underrepresented portion of the boreal forest, (2) to estimate the relationships between avian species richness and habitat characteristics, (3) to estimate if species detection at a given location was related to local habitat characteristics, and (4) to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of the avian community composition. We detected 32 species at our sampling locations; physical structure and floristics were not related to avian species richness, although estimates of richness were higher on warmer days and lower on windier days. Habitat characteristics were associated with the detection of Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus), Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata), American Robin (Turdus migratorius), and Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens). Finally, avian community composition was only moderately consistent among three categorical forest types and between audio sampling periods in two consecutive breeding seasons. Overall, we show that the structural and floristic traits measured at our study site are not related to the detection of most avian species or to species richness

A review of beaked whale (Ziphiidae) stranding incidents from the inshore waters of eastern Canada

Cetaceans of the family Ziphiidae (beaked whales) include some of the least known whale species. We review 78 ziphiid stranding incidents from the inshore waters of eastern Canada (defined as the Atlantic provinces north to central Labrador, including the Gulf coast of Quebec, from ~latitude 43.5°N to 55.0°W), with outcomes that involve 84 individual whales. This includes all eastern Canadian ziphiid stranding incidents known to us from the first report of 24 February 1934 to 31 December 2021 for the five species documented from eastern Canada: Northern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus), Sowerby’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens), Blainville’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), True’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon mirus), and Cuvier’s Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris). Northern Bottlenose Whale (41.0% of incidents, 40.4% of individuals) and Sowerby’s Beaked Whale (46.1% of incidents, 46.4% of individuals) have stranded most frequently, with the remaining three species stranding very rarely in the region. An average of 0.55 individual ziphiids/year were reported stranded from 1934 to 1999 in eastern Canada, but since 2000 this has increased to an average of 2.2 stranded individuals/year. Much of this increase is undoubtedly due to improved reporting, but other factors may also be involved. We emphasize the importance of the ongoing documentation of cetacean stranding incidents, but especially the need to better understand causes of ziphiid mortality, particularly for those species that reach the edge of their range in the western North Atlantic or are of conservation concern