Flowering During January in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia

Over 85 records of 23 species of blooming, herbaceous angiosperms were made at 19 sites in Antigonish County between 7 and 21 January 2006, when daytime temperatures reached 15°C. These observations followed an unusually warm fall and early winter. All species were observed on waste ground or in fields and garden plots, except for Epigaea repens L. which was part of ground vegetation in a sparsely wooded site. The primary families represented were Asteraceae (six species), Brassicaceae (six species) and Carophyllaceae (four species). The most commonly observed plants were Taraxacum officinale (L.) Weber (11 sites), Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik. (nine sites), Thlaspi arvense L. (three sites) and Stellaria media (L.) Vill. (four sites). Many plants and inflorescences were conspicuously frost-damaged, and flowers were rarely fully open. In several species, e.g., T. arvense and Cerastium vulgatum L., many individual plants looked normal and there was no evidence of frost damage. These observations are the latest flowering records for Nova Scotia

The Spindle Tree, Euonymus europaea L. (Celastraceae): A Newly Naturalized Shrub in Nova Scotia

Over 100 plants, including over 750 individual shoots, of Euonymus europaea L. are reported from the Town of Antigonish in northern Nova Scotia. Plants were found in five discrete areas separated by 200-1000 m. A few individuals at one site may represent human planting; however, over 90% of plants occur on waste ground or in dense shrubbery where natural colonization has occurred. Many individuals were observed in fruit in the fall of 2005, and over 95% of the plants had well developed buds and flowers in May and early June 2006. Euonymus europaea is considered a newly naturalized species for the flora of Nova Scotia

Rosa rugosa as an Invader of Coastal Sand Dunes of Cape Breton Island and Mainland of Nova Scotia

Rosa rugosa is described for the first time as an invasive species associated with coastal sand dunes in Atlantic Canada. Our surveys of 24 beaches on western Cape Breton Island and the mainland of northern Nova Scotia from Cheticamp to Fox Harbour showed that 11 of the dune systems (ca. 45%) were colonized. This was more prevalent in Cape Breton where R. rugosa occurred on 9 of 13 systems, whereas only 2 of 9 mainland systems were colonized. Four dunes (three in Cape Breton) were considered heavily colonized with 0.4 - 8.8% of the dune area with cover of R. rugosa. These beaches had 12 - 42 independent clumps with almost monospecific stands over 90% cover. In general, heavily colonized beaches were found adjacent to communities where extensive domestic planting and hedges of R. rugosa occurred and where escapes onto roadsides had occurred. In most colonized beach systems, rhizomes from clones extended 1 - 5 m to produce younger shoots. The absence of Ammophila breviligulata, Lathyrus maritimus and Myrica pensylvanica, from the interior of many clumps of R. rugosa suggests that native dune communities are being negatively impacted. This exacerbates dune integrity already compromised by impacts of sea level rise

Use of Eelgrass, Zostera marina, Wrack by Three Species of Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Prince Edward Island

Large numbers of the introduced ladybird beetle, Coccinella septempunctata L., were present at Wood Islands and Green Point, Prince Edward Island, in wrack consisting primarily of Zostera marina L. (Eelgrass). The wrack occurred in a 0.5 to 1.0 m band parallel to the shore, and was from five to 25 cm thick. The other ladybirds, Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (L.), an introduced coccinellid also found in high numbers, and an individual of the native Hippodamia tredecimpunctata (Say) were found only at Wood Islands. At both sites the ladybird beetles occurred in the mid-intertidal zone along at least 100 m of shoreline, and were absent to rare on the terrestrial vegetation above the high tide mark. At four of the other eight sites surveyed, occasional individuals were present in the wrack, but they were no more abundant than could be observed on landward vegetation. Mean densities of C. septempunctata at the two primary sites were 52 m-2 (Green Point) and 410 m-2 (Wood Islands)

From Sea to Sea: Canada's Three Oceans of Biodiversity

Evaluating and understanding biodiversity in marine ecosystems are both necessary and challenging for conservation. This paper compiles and summarizes current knowledge of the diversity of marine taxa in Canada's three oceans while recognizing that this compilation is incomplete and will change in the future. That Canada has the longest coastline in the world and incorporates distinctly different biogeographic provinces and ecoregions (e.g., temperate through ice-covered areas) constrains this analysis. The taxonomic groups presented here include microbes, phytoplankton, macroalgae, zooplankton, benthic infauna, fishes, and marine mammals. The minimum number of species or taxa compiled here is 15,988 for the three Canadian oceans. However, this number clearly underestimates in several ways the total number of taxa present. First, there are significant gaps in the published literature. Second, the diversity of many habitats has not been compiled for all taxonomic groups (e.g., intertidal rocky shores, deep sea), and data compilations are based on short-term, directed research programs or longer-term monitoring activities with limited spatial resolution. Third, the biodiversity of large organisms is well known, but this is not true of smaller organisms. Finally, the greatest constraint on this summary is the willingness and capacity of those who collected the data to make it available to those interested in biodiversity meta-analyses. Confirmation of identities and intercomparison of studies are also constrained by the disturbing rate of decline in the number of taxonomists and systematists specializing on marine taxa in Canada. This decline is mostly the result of retirements of current specialists and to a lack of training and employment opportunities for new ones. Considering the difficulties encountered in compiling an overview of biogeographic data and the diversity of species or taxa in Canada's three oceans, this synthesis is intended to serve as a biodiversity baseline for a new program on marine biodiversity, the Canadian Healthy Ocean Network. A major effort needs to be undertaken to establish a complete baseline of Canadian marine biodiversity of all taxonomic groups, especially if we are to understand and conserve this part of Canada's natural heritage

Taxonomy of Basicladia (Cladophorales, Chlorophyta) with Two New Combinations

Volume: 20Start Page: 38End Page: 4

AlgaeBase: an on-line resource for Algae

En développement, depuis 1996, AlgaeBase (http://www.algaebase.org) est une base de données en ligne offrant un accès libre à l’information taxonomique, la répartition des taxons et leur nomenclature (en particulier, leur autorité). Actuellement, cette base recense plus de 135 000 noms d’espèces et de taxons infraspécifiques d’algues qui sont présentés dans le contexte d’une classification taxonomique. Le projet a été financé par la Higher Education Authority, Ministère de l’Éducation et de la Science (Irlande), l’Union Européenne (le projet SeaweedAfrica ), un commanditaire de l’industrie en Irlande (Ocean Harvest Technology), et diverses sociétés et organisations phycologiques. La base de données comprend actuellement plus de 50 000 références bibliographiques et intègre le contenu des principales revues de phycologie en plus des références taxonomiques, écologiques, physiologiques et biochimiques dans les travaux actuels et classiques. Près de 10 000 fichiers PDF sont inclus beaucoup d’entre eux correspondant à des travaux taxonomiques du XIXe siècle qui sont rares et difficiles à obtenir. Les données sont consultables à tous les niveaux taxonomiques depuis les règnes jusqu’aux espèces (et les noms intraspécifiques), de plus, la citation des publications originales de tous les taxons est mentionnée dans la mesure du possible. Pour l’un des 145 000 taxons de rang générique ou supra générique, tous les taxons subordonnés de rang inferieur sont indiqués avec le nombre d’espèces pour chacun. Au sein de chaque genre, les espèces et les taxons infraspécifiques sont répertoriés avec la taxonomie actuelle de chaque nom. Près de 17 000 images sont fournies et disponibles pour le téléchargement et l’utilisation dans l’enseignement ou la recherche, les droits d’auteurs et autres droits étant conservés par les contributeurs d’origine ou par AlgaeBase. Cette base de données est utilisée par 2 000- 3 000 visiteurs individuels chaque jour avec près de 100 000 demandes par jour et reçoit plus de 7 millions de « hits » chaque année, avec un accroissement moyen d’environ 20 % par an. Une brève description des autres principales ressources en ligne d’algues telles que l’Index Nominum Algarum, le catalogue de noms de diatomées, CyanoDB, et AlgaTerra est fourni.In development since 1996, AlgaeBase (http://www.algaebase.org) is an on-line database providing free access to authoritative taxonomic, distributional and nomenclatural information of more than 135,000 names of species and infraspecific taxa of algae set in the context of a taxonomic hierarchy. The project was initially funded by the Higher Education Authority, Department of Education and Science (Ireland) and the European Union (the SeaweedAfrica Project), and more recently by an industry sponsor in Ireland (Ocean Harvest Technology) and various phycological societies and organisations. The database currently includes more than 50,000 bibliographic references and incorporates the entire contents of the main phycological journals in addition to taxonomic, ecological, physiological and biochemical references in current and classical works. Nearly 10,000 PDFs are included, many of them of 19th-century taxonomic works that are rare and difficult to obtain. The data are searchable at all taxonomic levels from kingdom to species (and infraspecific names), and AlgaeBase strives to provide citations of the original publications of all taxa. For any of the 145,000 taxa (names of genera and above included), all subordinate taxa at the next lowest rank are indicated along with the number of species for each. Within each genus the species and infraspecies taxa are listed along with the current taxonomic status of each name. Nearly 17,000 images are provided for downloading and use in teaching or research, with copyright and other rights being retained by the original contributors or by AlgaeBase. This database is being used by 2,000-3,000 individual visitors each day with nearly 100,000 requests a day and receives over 7 million “hits” each year, increasing at about 20% per annum. A brief description of other main on-line algal resources such as Index Nominum Algarum, the Catalogue of Diatoms Names, CyanoDB, and AlgaTerra is provided.</p

Invasion of Rosa rugosa (Rugosa Rose) into coastal plant communities of Brier Island, Nova Scotia

During August and September 2010, we surveyed the entire 20.4 km perimeter of Brier Island, Nova Scotia, for the invasive shrub Rosa rugosa (Rugosa Rose). This island in the outer reaches of the Bay of Fundy of Nova Scotia is geographically isolated and relatively undeveloped. Our objective was to determine the extent and mechanism of the invasion of R. rugosa into different coastal habitats to gain insight into the potential threat to native biodiversity from the unchecked population growth of this monopolizing, rank shrub. Over 300 colonies of R. rugosa with mean height over 1 m occupied 2089 m of the island perimeter within 10 m of the top of the beach. The mean distance between colonies was about 61 m and the maximum distance was 1927 m. At least 33 colonies formed almost impenetrable walls, each over 10 m in length, and 2 colonies occupied about 500 m2 each. Rosa rugosa had greatest density on a sand–gravel beach on which 88 colonies occupied 22% of the area and 33% of the beach margin. Exponential growth of the population (inferred from aerial photographs from 1970, 1988, and 2000) may be due to the various systems of seed dispersal. Agents include primary (American Mink, Neovison vison, and Red Squirrel, Tamiascurius hudsonicus) and secondary (an unidentified rodent) biotic dispersers. Longer distance dispersal may include Coyotes (Canis latrans), off-road vehicles and deposition of fruits by currents and waves. The main sites of seedling establishment are native habitats, such as dune grass and seashore Seaside Plantain (Plantago maritima) zones, albeit modified by this exotic rose. Dispersal of colonies contradicts a hypothesis of dispersal from human habitation along roads and tracks to the coastal habitats. We conclude that R. rugosa is having a significant impact on marine coastal plant communities and has the potential to dominate windswept shrub habitats on coastlines of much of Nova Scotia