FEATURE

By Claudia Copley, Entomology Collection Manager and Researcher, and Dr. Ken Marr, Curator of Botany

EXPERTS IN THE FIELD

A Return to Fieldwork for Natural History Staff

After a year’s hiatus caused by the pandemic, and despite heat domes, wildfires and smoke-filled skies, the Spider Diversity of BC and the Botany of BC Mountains teams returned to the field in July 2021 as part of our continued effort to document the biodiversity of this vast, diverse and unique province. Participants included curator of botany Ken Marr, entomology collections manager Claudia Copley, collection manager Darren Copley and research associate Robb Bennett. Various staff joined us from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (MoE). In addition to collecting plants, spiders and insects, we collected mushroom tissue samples for DNA analysis on behalf of retired MoE mycologist Dr. Shannon Berch, who has discovered species new to science among our previous collections.

(left) Smoky skies in Mount Robson Provincial Park.

(right) Yellowhead Helicopters arriving to transport us back to Valemount, BC.

The Spider Diversity of BC team started in the Whistler area for the annual bioblitz sponsored by the Whistler Naturalists Society. Early results include the collection of a species that is probably new to science and several that have not been collected previously here, despite the area having been relatively well sampled during previous bioblitzes. A number of habitat types come together in the Whistler region, creating a diverse array of ecosystems that keep things interesting year after year; the local natural history club has documented 4,363 species!

While the spider team was at Whistler, Ken Marr was making the first-ever plant collections from two mountains in Wells Gray Provincial Park: Grenier Peak and another peak northeast of Mount Hogue. Here Ken was joined by Chris Nowotny (BC Parks and Protected Areas section head), Mike Ryan (FLNRORD research ecologist and bryophyte expert) and Jason Straka (MoE program ecologist). They collected specimens of every species encountered, targeting habitats that range from dry, sparsely vegetated, windswept ridgetops to moist, lush meadows. Chris Nowotny took numerous photos for iNaturalist, doing his part to contribute to the BC Nature Challenge and BC Parks iNaturalist Project (inaturalist.org/projects/bc-parks).

Both teams worked together to collect specimens in the Yellowjacket Peak area of Mount Robson Provincial Park. Museum staff were again joined by Mike Ryan and Jason Straka, as well as César Estevo, a summer conservation intern with BC Parks, and Dawn Marks from MoE, who joined to specifically help with invertebrate sampling, emphasizing pollinating insects.

In these difficult-to-access alpine areas we find it most efficient to camp a couple of nights in order to maximize time in the field. Our camp typically includes two shelters, one for cooking (to keep food away from our tents) and one for processing specimens. Unlike some of our previous collecting trips, the rain held off until the last evening of the three-day stay in Mount Robson. Smoky skies blanketed the views and gave the world an eerie glow, but the timing of our sampling was ideal in terms of peak floral bloom, and we are certain to have some interesting new records.

Funding for fieldwork in Wells Gray and Mount Robson Provincial Parks was provided by BC Parks through direct funding to the Royal BC Museum for park-focused biodiversity fieldwork and a Park Enhancement Fund grant. A portion of this funding comes from the purchase of BC Parks–themed licence plates, and from direct donations to the BC Parks Foundation, supporting many efforts in BC Parks. Yellowhead Helicopters sponsored our work in the form of a discounted rate. We are grateful for their safe and accommodating flying that positioned us in locations from which no natural history collections have been made in the past.

The partnerships and collaborations we have established mean that we are still able to meet the Royal BC Museum’s mandate “to secure, receive and preserve specimens, artifacts and archival and other materials that illustrate the natural or human history of British Columbia” (as set out in the Museum Act). Reaching these protected areas is critical, because there is still so much to discover, and what we report becomes essential documentation for BC Parks, serving as a baseline of information in the face of increasingly rapid change. Final reports of our findings will be provided to BC Parks and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and Ktunaxa First Nations, on whose traditional land both Wells Gray and Mount Robson exist.

Chris Nowotny, BC Parks, photographing plants in Wells Gray Provincial Park.

EXPERTS IN THE FIELD

By Dr. Joel Gibson,

Curator of Entomology, and Dr. Henry Choong,

Curator of Invertebrates Pebbly beach, Rebecca Spit Provincial Marine Park, with wrack along the high-tide line (foreground).

Insects, Plants & Algae

Biodiversity on Shoreline Wrack

Beach wrack, Calvert Island, showing feather boa kelp (Egregia) in the centre and giant kelp (Macrocystis) surrounding it.

Royal BC Museum entomology curator Dr. Joel Gibson standing in eelgrass and algae exposed at high tide, Saltspring Island. British Columbia has more than 25,000 km of coastline, with many different kinds of beaches, estuaries and lagoons. A great diversity of species live on the sandy or rocky shores between the intertidal zone and the high-tide line. Scientists monitor and study the biodiversity of these coastal areas to see how it changes over time. Significant changes in biodiversity could be a sign of natural or human-caused disturbances in these habitats.

One important component of beach ecosystems is wrack. This is the seaweed and marine-plant debris that washes ashore after being torn from the seafloor by waves, tides and boats, and becomes a drying, decaying mass on the shore. Wrack shelters and feeds a great variety of beach invertebrates, and many vertebrate species, such as seabirds, feed on the invertebrates in turn.

It may not look or smell appetizing to humans, but decomposing wrack is both delicious food and important shelter for many shoreline invertebrates. We estimate that half of beach-dwelling invertebrate species depend on wrack for survival. Common wrack-dependent species include beach hoppers (amphipods), kelp flies and surf flies. Predators like rove beetles, maritime earwigs and beach wolf spiders seek out their prey within the wrack.

Since 2017, Royal BC Museum curators Dr. Joel Gibson (entomology) and Dr. Henry Choong (invertebrates) have been observing, collecting and documenting some of the beach-wrack invertebrate communities of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Visits to dozens of beaches have produced thousands of records identifying hundreds of species. All specimens are kept in the Royal BC Museum natural history collections, and all data is freely shared with collaborators across the province and the world. This field work has led to important research questions: Are the wrack communities in BC different from those in the rest of the world? Do different types of wrack (eelgrass versus kelp, for example) support different invertebrate communities?

Our work will continue for the foreseeable future, as there are many more beaches and species to document. In the meantime, it’s important for everyone (and our dogs) to leave wrack alone. A well-groomed or “clean” beach, free from algae or seagrass wrack, is a beach robbed of its biodiversity.

Will Mackenzie, research ecologist (FLNRORD), recording plant species abundance near Quarrie Peak, Elk Valley.

ALPINE PLANT Collaborations with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change SAMPLING

Caged cones of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) above Berg Lake, Mount Robson Provincial Park.

Rare (blue-listed) androsace buckwheat (Eriogonum androsaceum) at Mount Ingram, Elk Valley. T his summer I joined three Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoE) initiatives: two involve alpine plant diversity, and the third the preservation of whitebark pine.

The first initiative examined a rare, high-elevation rough fescue grassland in the Elk River Valley in southeastern BC, documenting the animals and plants that live here and in nearby alpine habitats. Over two weeks, 20 biologists, assembled by MoE ecologist Emily Cameron, took thousands of photographs; collected specimens of plants and insects, documented the abundance of bighorn sheep, elk and mountain-goat droppings (to estimate how much they graze here); and collected ecological data in the form of vegetation plots and soil analysis. This is part of a multi-year effort by the MoE and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD). This was the farthest south that I have worked, and many species were new to me. New populations of several rare species were discovered— welcome data for the BC Conservation Data Centre at the MoE.

By Dr. Ken Marr

Curator of Botany

For the second initiative, I joined conservation intern César Estevo (MoE) in Mount Robson Provincial Park for a widespread BC Parks project to document potential future changes in alpine vegetation. At 5-metre intervals along a 50-metre line, we recorded the species present and their abundance within a 0.5-by-0.5-metre frame. Every four years this will be repeated in order to evaluate vegetation change.

The third initiative also took place in Mount Robson Provincial Park. For the past several years park staff have placed protective wire meshes over the cones of selected whitebark pines in order to protect the developing seeds from birds and mammals. This is part of an effort in collaboration with the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (whitebarkfound.org) to save this species from white pine blister rust, an introduced fungus that has killed thousands of trees in western North America. The trees that are selected are genetically resistant to this fungus. Later in the fall, staff will return and harvest the seeds, which they then plant in a greenhouse. Once established, these seedlings will be planted back into the area from which they were collected. So far, we have learned much about the optimal manner in which to plant the seedlings, and the program has succeeded in establishing young trees.

These are only a few of the examples of collaboration between the museum and other government ministries.