From Spruce to Shore:Arctic botany of the Coppermine

Jeff Saarela

Sokoloff

Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration

Floristicsthe study of the distribution, number, types, and relationships of plant species in an area or areas

• 91 families• 420 genera

• 2218 species

Elven et al. (2011) http://nhm2.uio.no/paf/

Checklist of the Panarctic Flora - Vascular Plants

http://arcticplants.myspecies.info/

The Arctic Flora of Canada and Alaska36% of global Arctic

The flora will cover the entire Canadian Arctic and adjacent

northern Alaskaca. 800 species

Arctic Floristic Research• critical baseline data

for specific regions (parks, communities, islands, ecozones, territories)

for understanding future change in species distributions and vegetation

may inform monitoring

• samples for systematic, phylogeographic, DNA barcoding studies, etc.

Google

Databased CAN and DAO northern specimens

Major Gaps in Collection Coverage

very few areas completely inventoried

Local Floristic Studies: so far….over 5000 new Canadian Arctic plant collections

2014

Coppermine RiverNunavut

Northern limit of treeline in Nunavut

(ratio of tree cover: tundra)

Giant plant pressCarex capitata

Coppermine River

Bull

Bull

Arctic

SubarcticForest - tundra

Existing collections in the area

CMN collections online

Nocompleteinventory

Nunavut

NWT

N

Fockler Creek

Bloody Falls

Kugluktuk

Sokoloff

GOAL: completeinventoriesof 3 areas

Also collected at othersites

Fockler Creek

Bull

Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park

Bull

Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park

Kugluktuk and vicinity

Collections = Knowledge

- ca. 1400 new collections ~1000 vascular plants ~400 bryophytes, lichens and fungi - identified all new and existing material (CAN, DAO, other herbaria)

-all taxa recorded from study area based on specimens in public collections

Families 45Genera 134Species 301Subspecies 8Hybrids 3Total Taxa 312

The Flora

CONTEXTCanadian Arctic Archipelago: ca. 360 taxa (Gillespie et al. 2015)

Flora of Nunavut: 255 genera / 672 species (VASCAN)

Tuktut Nogait National Park and vicinity: 265 species (Saarela et al. 2013)

1 111 112 1 11

42

12

17

211

15

218

1

911

10

5

41211221121 5

2 55 2 3

Caryophyllaceae

Poaceae

AsteraceaeEricaceae

Brassicaceae

Number of Genera per Family

45 families134 genera

1 15

3 13 2 1 1 1

47

8 22

39

42

123

3118

1

1811

14

1141411

6

11123154

11

14

1711

AsteraceaeBrassicaceaeCaryophyllaceae

Salicaceae

Number of Species per Family

312 taxa Cyperaceae

Poaceae

• Total taxa 312• Previously recorded taxa 193 (62%)• Taxa new to study area 119 (38% - 60% )• Taxa new to Nunavut 13• New taxa to mainland Nunavut 7• Range extensions 54

Nunavut

NWT

N

Fockler Creek

Kugluk/Bloody FallsTerritorial Park

Kugluktuk

Sokoloff

202

212

203

Study area:312 taxa

96 taxa not found in any of the three fully inventoried sites

Kugluk/Bloody FallsTerritorial Park

(Nunavut)

Tuktut Nogait National Park (Northwest Territories)

ca. 18,000 km2

245 species

ca. 10 km2

212 species

Species in Low Arctic Protected Areas

Amaryllidaceae Allium schoenoprasumBrassicaceae Draba lonchocarpaCaryophyllaceae Eremogone capillaris subsp. capillarisCaryophyllaceae Sabulina elegansCyperaceae Eleocharis quinquefloraOnagraceae Epilobium anagallidifoliumOphioglossaceae Botrychium neolunariaOphioglossaceae Botrychium tunuxPoaceae Festuca altaicaPolygonaceae Polygonum avicularePotamogetonaceae Stuckenia pectinataSalicaceae Salix ovalifolia var. arctolitoralisSalicaceae Salix ovalifolia var. ovalifolia

New to Nunavut

Eremogone capillaris (Poir.) Fenzl subsp. capillaris — Thread-leaved sandwort | Asian (C-NE)–amphi-Beringian

New to Nunavut

Wild chives | Ciboulette communeAllium schoenoprasum

Sokoloff

Sokoloff

New to Nunavut

Botrychium -- moonworts

3755b

3755a

4179a 4179b

B. tunux

B. “neolunaria”

B. minganense

psbA-trnH

Benjamin Dauphin et al. Am. J. Bot. 2014;101:128-140

B. lunaria

4179a 4179b3755b 3755a

B. tunuxB. minganense B. “neolunaria” in. ed.

Maps: Farrar, 2011

3 species new to Nunavut & major range extensions

Brassicaceae Draba simmonsii

Cyperaceae Carex gynocrates

Cyperaceae Carex livida

Juncaceae Juncus alpinoarticulatus subsp. americanus

Poaceae Festuca viviparoidea subsp. viviparoidea

Pteridaceae Cryptogramma stelleri

Salicaceae Salix pseudomyrsinites

New to Mainland Nunavut

Festuca viviparoidea Krajina ex Pavlick subsp. viviparoidea — Viviparous fescue | Circumpolar

New to mainland Nunavut; previously known from northern Ellesmere Island,and recently recorded for western Mainland NWT.

Slender rock-brake | cryptogramme de StellerCryptogramma stelleri

Sokoloff

Sokoloff

Second record for Nunavut

Carex gynocrates Wormsk. ex Drejer — Northern bog sedge | Asian–amphi-Beringian–North American

New to study area and mainland Nunavut.

Known from Baffin Island

Juncus alpinoarticulatus subsp. americanus (Farwell) Hämet-Ahti | Alpine rush | Amphi-Beringian–North American (N)

In Nunavut recorded only from Akimiski Island

54 Range Extensionsmostly northern extensions (boreal species) a few southern extensions (Arctic species)

Twinflower| Linée boréaleLinnaea borealis

Bull

Sokoloff

New to Arctic ecozone

RANGE EXTENSION

Stemless raspberry| Ronce acauleRubus arcticus subsp. acaulis

Sokoloff

Sokoloff

New to Arctic ecozone

RANGE EXTENSION

Water birch | Bouleau fontinalBetula occidentalis

BullBull

RANGE EXTENSION

Water horsetail | CircumborealEquisetum fluviatile L.RANGE EXTENSION

Juniperus communis subsp. depressa Common juniper | North American

RANGE EXTENSION

Lower Coppermine River

Now we have detailed

baseline floristic data

Collections are critical for documenting species’ distributions

Collections

Museum

Researchers

You can help too

Make museum-quality collections in your study areas