Botany Under the Midnight Sun: Floristic Discoveries on Victoria Island,

Nunavut, CanadaJeffery M. Saarela, Laurie C. Consaul, Roger D. Bull

and Lynn Gillespie

Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence

Long History of Arctic Plant Exploration

Norwegion Polar Expedition in the Fram1898-1902

Herman G. Simmons collections

ARCTIC PLANT TAXONOMYmajor challenges

• numerous taxonomically difficult species groups- hybridization- high polyploidy- frequent asexual reproduction

• many different regional treatments- widespread species (circumpolar, pan arctic)- different species concepts (Russia vs. Euro vs.

NA)- different names

• few or no plant collections from many remote areas- sites difficult and expensive to access

A.E. Porsild –1955, 1957, 1980 (Porsild & Cody)

Major Publications in North American Arctic Botany

Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Interactive CD identification guide

“. . .this flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago will provide a basis for much more research on arctic plants in Canada in the coming years. There are many potentially very interesting areas that have never been botanised. In these sites, certainly new records, as well as interesting new species to the Arctic Archipelago, are waiting to be discovered.”

Aiken et al. 2007

Available at nature.ca

But there is no flora for *just* the Arctic regions of Canada

ca. 800 in the Canadian Arctic

A First Flora of the Canadian Arctic

• all vascular plants above treeline in Canada - N Yukon - Northwest Territories - Nunavut - N Quebec - N Newfoundland & Labrador

Long Term Goal

Comprehensive baseline floristic data

for long-term climate change studies

Many plant species are expected to migrate Nas temperature increases

DNA Barcoding the Canadian Arctic Flora

Carex membranacea

Purple reedgrassCalamagrostis purpurascens

subsp. arctica

TAXONOMIC STUDIES ON ARCTIC GRASSES & SEDGES

Collections and Collection Gaps

Baffin I

Devon I

Ellesmere I

Prince Patrick I

Baffin I

Banks IMelville I

Cambridge Bay

Victoria I

Jeff Roger Lynn LaurieSaarela Bull Gillespie Consaul

Intrepid Arctic Botanists

Camp 1 near Oterkvik Point, Victoria Island

Camp 2 - Johansen Bay

Camp 3 – Sinclair Creek

Chamerion latifoliumRiver Beauty – Arctic fireweed

We explore as many different habitats as possible

to maximize plant diversity

sortingpressing& drying

plantcollectionsin the field

Dry and Mesic Tundra Habitats

Salix arctica

Pedicularis lanata

Beach sandwortSea greens(Honckenya peploides)

Sea-lungwortSeaside bluebells

(Mertensia maritima)Saltmarsh sandwort (Stellaria humifusa)

Coastal Habitat

Mastodon flower

Tephroseris palustris subsp. congestus

River habitat collecting willows

River habitat

Kotzebue's grass-of-

Parnassus

Parnassiakotzebuei

sandy river bank

Mare’s tailHippuris

lanceolata

AQUATIC &

SEDGEWETLANDHABITATS

SedgesCarex capillaris subsp. fuscidula

Pingo Habitat

• over 1100 collections

• increased # of known species on Victoria Island from 231 to 261 species

• we collected some 202 species 1 species new to Canada 4 taxa new to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (northern range extensions) 7 species new to the western Arctic Archipelago 5 species new to Victoria Island 20 species new to SW Victoria Island many 2nd and 3rd records for Victoria Island

Significant New Information on the Arctic Flora

Stuckenia subretusa (fide Pan Arctic Flora project)A New Species for Canada

pondweed

Bog RosemaryAndromeda polifolia

NEW TO THE CANADIAN ARCTIC ARCHIPELAGO

ALSO NEW TO CANADIAN ARCTIC ARCHIPELAGO

Draba pilosa (Brassicaceae)Arenaria longipedulculata (Caryophyllaceae)Silene uralensis subsp. uralensis (Caryophyllaceae)

Northerncoralroot

orchid

Corallorhiza trifida

1st record of orchid from W Arctic Is.2nd record for Arctic Archipelago

Common butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) • insectivorous plant• first record on W Arctic Islands

KoenigiaKoenigia islandica

annual plant

first record in W Arctic islands

new localities for rare Pygmy Aster

Symphiotrichon pygmaeum

*

Puccinellia banksiensis Consaul, 2008

Banks Island Alkaligrass

multiple new localitieson SW Victoria Island

First Records for Victoria Island

PoaceaeCalamagrostis stricta

Deschampsia sukatschewiiPuccinellia banksiensis

Puccinellia tenella

CyperaceaeCarex bicolor

First records for southwestern Victoria Island:Armeria scabra

Betula glandulosaCarex aquatilis var. minor

Carex saxatilisCarex subspathacea

Carex glacialisDeschampsia brevifolia

Empetrum nigrumEpilobium arcticumEquisetum arvense

Erigeron compositusEriophorum vaginatum

Juncus arcticusJuncus biglumis

Juncus castaneusKobresia sibirica

Kobresia simpliciusculaLuzula confusaLuzula nivalis

Potentilla pulchella

Tuktut Nogait National Park of Canada

Balsam poplar (Populus balsaminfera)

well above treeline

Thank you