Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)

News and Notes

Summary of the meeting of the Scientific Committee for the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods), October 2000

The Scientific Committee met in Ottawa on 12-13 October 2000.

The various scientific projects of the Survey were discussed, including the following progress.

1. Grasslands
Dr. Terry Wheeler had reported that the Survey’s Informal Conference on Arthropods of Grasslands would be held as anticipated at the joint ESA/ESC/SEQ meeting on Wednesday 6 December. The list of speakers and titles is available on the BSC grasslands web page and in the fall BSC newsletter. A formal symposium on the grasslands project is planned, possibly at next year’s ESC meeting in Niagara Falls. Habitat-based ecological projects will be the focus of this symposium and the symposium proceedings, along with additional ecological chapters, would constitute the first major volume in the Grasslands project.

Dr. Wheeler also reported on summer fieldwork in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, continuing activities in the southern Yukon grasslands, and the processing and sorting of Diptera from grassland collections.

Dr. Floate reported on a preserved area of foothills grasslands in Alberta called the Ross grasslands. He commented on this and other unique habitats with a good potential for research. He added that frequent and widespread grass fires continue throughout Alberta. The year 2000 was another drought year in Alberta and the situation is critical, so that grassland ecology is in the public eye. He outlined some ongoing research on grasslands in Alberta.

The Committee reviewed research from elsewhere as well as ideas for seeking funding from foundations, upcoming conferences (see http://iisd.ca/wetlands/pcesc/default.htm) and additional grasslands conservation initiatives. To move forward the Grasslands project further the subcommittee will develop plans for joint collecting efforts in key grassland habitats over the next two or three years.

2. Arctic invertebrate biology
Dr. Ring reported on the symposium on cold hardiness held at the University of Victoria last spring. About 40 participants represented 8 different countries, and topics ranged from soil ecology to molecular genetics. Some of the papers will be published. The next meeting of this triennial event will take place in 2003 in the Czech Republic.

Dr. Danks reminded the Committee that the purpose of the project was to try and push forward work on arctic insects in Canada. Within that framework the Arctic Insect News newsletter was initiated. However, developments in this area have been lacking and Canadian content for the newsletter is rather limited. Many of the submissions are from or deal with work in other countries and more than half of the recipients of Arctic Insect News are from outside Canada. The newsletter, like the project itself, has not visibly increased work in Canadian arctic entomology, due to lack of funding, lack of personnel and difficulty in permit procedures for example. Although it is well received overseas, Arctic Insect News is not really serving the objectives of the Biological Survey. The Committee considered whether Arctic Insect News should be discontinued, allowing further efforts to be placed on the Grasslands Newsletter, for example. It was agreed to discontinue the newsletter, but to include a section in the Survey’s regular newsletter devoted to arctic research. The Committee also thought that someone in the international community might want to start something similar to Arctic Insect News, but without the Canadian arctic emphasis of the Survey’s newsletter.

3. Seasonal adaptations
 Dr. Danks reported that the project on seasonal adaptations is progressing, with papers on dehydration in dormant insects, measuring and reporting life-cycle duration in insects and mites, and insect cold hardiness: a Canadian perspective now published or in press. Dr. Danks had also recently submitted a paper on dormancy responses to a special issue of Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae planned to commemorate the 70th birthday of Prof. Ivo Hodek, the well-known Czech student of diapause and related phenomena. A symposium for the joint ESC/SEQ/ESA meeting entitled “Water relations and winter survival in insects” includes a presentation on “Water balance in insects dormant for the winter”.

Dr. Danks reported that specific cooperative work at the University of Victoria is proceeding well. Dr. Danks added that he had recently been invited to give lectures on seasonal adaptations themes at the 4th European Workshop of Invertebrate Ecophysiology (in St. Petersburg in September 2001, the place where Prof. Danilevsky, the famous Russian scientist who worked on insect photoperiodism and diapause, did his work) and at the International Czech-Japanese Seminar of Entomology (Czech Republic in summer 2002).

4. Insects of Keewatin and Mackenzie
Drs. Currie and Giberson reported on the Horton River (see Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) 19(2): 48-51). The permit process was extremely cumbersome, and they did not receive their final Inuvialuit land use permit until less than a week before they departed. Five entomologists had participated; engaging a professional outfitter proved to be a very wise investment. The expedition was very expensive and cost much more than field work done in foreign countries such as Vietnam. Dr. Currie concluded that although some of the processes of doing work in the north are discouraging, overall the trip was well worth the effort. Some of the preliminary scientific findings were outlined. Plans for 2001 are still under consideration, to the Kazan River, the Seal River or the Thelon River.

2. Invasions and reductions
Dr. Foottit and Dr. Scudder have just finished a chapter on pathways of introduction in Canada (based on selected distributional data) for a book that resulted from the session on invasions at the 1999 national EMAN meeting. Dr. Foottit and Dr. Scudder are considering a book about alien insects, which might soon be confirmed by the potential publisher. The government is currently greatly concerned about quarantine issues and risk assessment.

3. Survey web site
Dr. Danks reported that there had been delays in contract work on the website and in getting content for some sections. Then there proved to be technical difficulties especially with the online database of workers as well as such initial difficulties as incomplete uploads, wrong subdirectories and a user access problem for most of the files. Therefore, the BSC site was disabled for some time. As a result, the BSC newsletter and promotion of the biodiversity brief had to be delayed because they contained references to the site.

However, most of the content of the website is now available with a few areas still under construction. Much more information is now on the site, including the full text of Survey briefs and chapters from the Insects of the Yukon book. The Committee agreed that the site is now much enhanced.

4. Faunal analysis
Dr. Anderson reported that the initial faunal analysis information was prepared and posted on the Survey website including updated information on some orders. The site also has an introduction to the project and the protocols. Ways to allow updates on other orders were discussed and updates for Coleoptera and Diptera will be pursued as well as posting less current data for other groups to help stimulate further work.

5. Funding for biodiversity studies
Dr. Wheeler has continued to expand the database of funding sources, and the continued growth of the database will depend on further suggestions. Several copies of the list of sources were sent out to students in response to email requests. The introduction to the database, with general advice on grant applications, has now been posted on the BSC website. A modified copy of the introductory section will be submitted to the ESC Bulletin.

Difficulties with the Lyman Museum’s web site mean that it has proved difficult to post the list of funding sources there and link it to the Survey site. Members of the Committee noted the Nature Discovery Fund of the Canadian Museum of Nature, reallocated NSERC funds, and a call for submissions for national centres of excellence, which had elicited applications linked to biodiversity.

6. Brief on biodiversity studies
Dr. Danks reported that the brief had been completed and published [Danks, H.V. and Winchester, N.N. 2000. Terrestrial Arthropod Biodiversity Projects — Building A Factual Foundation. Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) Document Series No. 7. Ottawa. 38 pp.] aimed at both general and more specific scientific audiences. Members of the Committee asserted that the brief is proving to be widely useful, and that such briefs are having an impact on what people are doing in biodiversity studies.

7. Arthropods and fire
Several investigations are under way on the relationships between arthropods and fire, especially in grasslands. Dr. Scudder will prepare an article on arthropods and fire in dry B.C. grassland for the next issue of the Grasslands Newsletter.

Dr. Roughley spoke about his fire-related work on tall-grass prairie, which had begun in response to inquiries on when is the best time to burn from a conservation point of view. Some results will be presented at the joint meeting in Montreal.

Others will be approached for potential reports or notes for the Grasslands Newsletter. Eventually, a symposium on this subject might be organized. If enough interest is generated too in fires in the boreal zone as well as in grasslands, a broader symposium might eventually be feasible.

8. Monitoring of continuing priorities
Updated information on earlier or currently less active Survey projects was reviewed, including arthropod fauna of springs, insects of Newfoundland, arthropod fauna of large rivers, arthropod ectoparasites of vertebrates, arthropods of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), and arthropods of special habitats.

With respect to arthropods of peatlands and freshwater wetlands, work with pitcher plants was reported by Dr. Giberson, revealing interesting findings about the pH of these habitats. Mount Allison University recently received a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant to develop a wetlands centre. If another grant application to fund qualified personnel is successful an influx of graduate students working on wetlands in the Maritimes would be expected. Dr. Currie reminded the Committee about the Australian winery, Banrock Station Winery, that established a wetland conservation initiative in Australia and is starting the same kind of program in Canada. The Royal Ontario Museum has been the benefactor of this program and recently received funds for wetlands research, beginning on Walpole Island in southwestern Ontario.

With respect to climatic change, Dr. Floate commented that a group of climatologists at the Lethbridge research centre have a number of models of climate change but are looking for collaborators on how insects respond to climate changes. Dr. Foottit described work in progress using climate-matching programs such as Bioclim - an algorithm that uses climate surfaces, initially with data on prairie insects. Dr. Ring noted that recent climate projections concerning changes in annual temperature and other factors are summarized in a recent publication from the Climate Change Project  [Hengeveld, H.G. 2000. ]  Dr. Shorthouse noted that the symposium theme of annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Ontario (Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, 27-28 October 2000) is Climate Change and Insect Populations.

Concerning agroecosystems, Dr. Floate announced that the expansion of the Lethbridge Research Centre has now begun, including an insect quarantine laboratory / rearing complex with an attached greenhouse as well as additional insect laboratories and offices. Several new pest problems are occurring in Alberta, for example, the sweet clover weevil, the pea leaf weevil, the wheat head armyworm and the cabbage seed pod weevil (abundant in 2000). There has also been a resurgence of the wheat stem sawfly, causing significant damage. Some other research and potential publications were summarized. Dr. Chiasson noted that the demand for organic agriculture is very high, but lack of promotion of alternatives to pesticides, such as biocontrol, is currently an impediment. Moreover, organic systems tend to contain alien insects, brought in on nursery stock, etc.

9. Publication of systematic and faunistic papers 
Dr. Wheeler had pointed out continued concern over the dwindling avenues for publication of systematic and faunistic papers on Canadian arthropods because of an unwillingness by some outlets to accept certain categories of manuscripts documenting the Canadian fauna, and changes in editorial policy on format, for example. Dr. Wheeler noted that Lyman Museum Memoirs and Notes series still exist; such series could be strongly upgraded to provide a fully reviewed series of occasional publications on the systematics, faunistics (including surveys) and ecology of arthropods. The Committee discussed these issues at length and concluded that such an idea and related possibilities are worth pursuing through discussions including the CMN, the ESC, and others.

10. Other priorities
The Committee also discussed priorities such as damaged ecosystems and Survey publicity.

2. Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Dr. Robert Foottit reported on the Canadian Biodiversity Network Conference, March 1-4, 2001 in Ottawa, which is being organized by Dr. Peter Hall. Dr. Scudder circulated a brochure [see:
http://www.nrc.ca/confserv/biodiversity/] The aim of the conference is to develop a position to alert the federal government that there is a biodiversity crisis in Canada. A position paper (drafted by Drs. Scudder and Smith) will be presented at the conference outlining the state of biosystematics in Canada.

Dr. Floate described the North Star Initiative, whereby Agriculture Canada would aim at research that encompasses bio-fibre, alternative fuels, pharmaceuticals, environmental sustainability and so on as well as the process of growing food. Public-good research is also part of this concept. Dr. Foottit explained that ECORC’s advisory committee will be meeting soon and one of the issues will be staffing in systematics, given continued attrition.

3. Entomological Society of Canada
Dr. Robert Foottit, Society Vice-President, reported that much activity is currently being focussed on the joint ESC/ESA/SEQ meeting in December in Montreal. The program includes symposia on soil mites, aquatic insects, arthropods of grasslands, a meeting of the Coleopterists’ Society, and a number of other topics related to systematics and faunistics. He reported that the organization is progressing well. There will be a talk at the joint meeting on the falling off of taxonomic support on a world scale. Dr. Hélène Chiasson noted that there will be 70 symposia plus at least 1000 posters and almost as many 10-minute papers. There are at least 15 concurrent sessions. The program starts Sunday morning and there are also meetings and presentations in the evenings. The plenary session is on Sunday night followed by a social event. There will also be a town hall meeting, mainly for the ESA but relevant to all, to discuss how to change the ways entomological societies are run in order to encourage more participation, to take advantage of the electronic age, to prevent fee increases, etc.

Dr. Foottit mentioned a letter from the AEAQ and the SEQ sent to Minister Anderson in the context of the Species at Risk legislation, concerning the importance of studies in biodiversity and the need to support work in these areas. These ideas are supported by the ESC.

4. Parks Canada
Mr. Stéphane Greffard, Ecological Assessment Officer, explained that the focus at Parks Canada has been the implementation of the Report of The Panel on The Ecological Integrity of Canada’s National Parks. Some of the key recommendations include making ecological integrity central in legislation and policy. The State of Parks report will soon be published giving an overview of ecological integrity and biodiversity in the Parks. Another focus is in building partnerships with regional land managers (provincial, territorial, aboriginal, etc.). For example, new national Parks were established in Nunavut. A position of Executive Director, Ecological Integrity has been established and Mr. Nik Lopoukhine has been appointed to this position. There are also plans to develop a national training and orientation program in ecological integrity for Parks Canada staff and managers. A memorandum to cabinet to develop national science strategy for Parks focuses on an improved science capacity within Parks and creating formal connections with universities and other science-based agencies for research in Parks.

Mr. Greffard had forwarded the documents sent by the Survey (about research in Parks and permits for insect collections) after the last Scientific Committee meeting to the relevant personnel at Parks. With respect to research, he said that it might be possible to organize a meeting to coordinate projects but no funds now are available for research. With respect to the permit process, Mr. Greffard explained that ultimately each park establishes its own policy.

Dr. Scudder pointed out that in B.C. the Conservation Data Centre has just finished mapping the occurrence of all the species at risk in B.C. and comparing areas that have been put aside for wildlife preservation. National (and provincial) parks do not appear to show records of any of the species at risk – few studies have been done in Parks due to the difficulty in the permit process. Therefore, on paper it appears that national parks are not serving their mandated purpose of maintaining biodiversity and ecological integrity.

5. Parasitology module, Canadian Society of Zoologists
Dr. David Marcogliese reported that the Parasitology module’s main activities have been to produce EMAN protocols for the identification of parasites of vertebrates. Additional fascicles are in process. The national stickleback parasite survey is now an international IBOY project and funding is being sought to support the project. Dr. David Cone hopes to write up his work on the perch project this year while he is on sabbatical. Dr. Marcogliese circulated a number of publications of interest to the committee.

Dr. Marcogliese noted that the Canadian Society of Zoologists will meet next May in Sudbury. In 2002 the Parasitology section will host the International Congress of Parasitology in Vancouver. The 2002 meeting of the Canadian Society of Zoologists will be in Lethbridge. Dr. Marcogliese noted that in a recent visit to the U.K. he saw a lot of new building associated with natural history museums, largely as a result of the national policy of donating proceeds from lotteries to cultural organizations including museums.

1. Reports on regional developments of potential interest
Information of interest to the Survey from different regions of the country was provided, including the following topics. In British Columbia, Dr. Scudder indicated that he is in the last year of work on databasing and documenting sensitive species. A submission on priority setting for biodiversity conservation in B.C. is being prepared, using georeferenced data on some insects as well as other organisms to recommend how to set up an ideal conservation system to handle both rarity and richness as well as biogeoclimatic representation, and with a focus on land planning options. The South Okanagan - Similkameen Conservation Program (a coalition of 19 groups working together) has received $1 million from the federal government to help develop a land and resource management plan for the area. Dr. Scudder reported that a Checklist of the Hemiptera of Canada and Alaska has been published. Other work on aphids and on mirids is in progress. Dr. Scudder also circulated the first newsletter from a BC Grasslands coalition, with a view to integrating cattle grazing and conservation in a new way (“biodiversity ranching”). Dr. Ring reported that the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of British Columbia will be held October 20 in Victoria. Dr. Robb Bennett is compiling a new checklist of the spiders of British Columbia and has started a new website for seed and cone insects through the BC Ministry of Forests.

In the prairies, Dr. Floate announced that Dr. Owen Olfert of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Branch in Saskatoon won a federal government award for developing pest distribution maps for the prairies and a collaborative GIS monitoring system. Dr. Roughley reported that the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Manitoba will take place the week of October 16. At the University of Manitoba database work continues. The entomology faculty and 20 graduate students in the department have a diversity of projects. Dr. John Conroy, University of Winnipeg, died recently and much of the entomological work has fallen on Dr. Richard Westwood who is developing a large, well-supported forestry project. The Conservation Data Centre in Winnipeg is cataloguing considerable insect data by group.

In Ontario, Dr. Currie reported that the Royal Ontario Museum has a new CEO - Mr. William Thorsell, former editor-in-chief of the Globe and Mail, who seems to be steering the museum back to more traditional museum values. Master planning continues at the Museum. The work of databasing the collection continues: the butterflies are nearing completion and will be included in the Biota of Canada. The Blackflies of North America book is now in the cost production phase. Dr. Chris Darling and Dr. Sandy Smith have received a grant to work on the old growth white pine Haliburton forest, which has one of the longest canopy walkways in the world. Mr. John Swann has resigned from the ROM to complete his PhD thesis. Dr. Shorthouse reported that he has two graduate students in his laboratory at Laurentian University including one studying parasitoids associated with galls.

In Quebec, Dr. Wheeler reported that much current activity is directed toward the joint ESC/SEQ/ESA meeting. The Entomological Collections Network meeting, traditionally held in conjunction with the ESA meeting, will be hosted by McGill University. Dr. Wheeler hopes that there will be a final hiring decision on the Lyman Entomological Museum’s Curator in the next two weeks. The Lyman Entomological Museum and McGill Herbarium shared a grant from a private foundation to provide infrastructure and personnel for databasing the collections of the two museums. Continued annual funding is possible from the same foundation and good progress was made on this year’s installment. Dr. Chiasson reported that Dr. Noubar Bostanian, Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada, has long done research on insects in apple orchards. He will present this research for the first time at the joint meeting in December.

In Newfoundland and the Maritimes, Dr. Giberson reported that the annual meeting of the Acadian Entomological Society was held recently in Charlottetown. The meeting was very poorly attended. An emergency meeting was held to discuss the reasons for such low attendance and ways to improve the organization of the Society. Dr. Jeff Stewart, formerly a research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Charlottetown, has moved to Lethbridge to take up a management position. Dr. Giberson reported that the fish kills that resulted from pesticide runoff into streams had led to buffer-strip legislation. However, buffer strips take time to grow, and fish kills continued last summer and remain a serious and controversial issue in PEI. The dragonflies of PEI project continues and Dr. Giberson is working with the Atlantic Dragonfly Inventory Project, which meets on November 11 in New Brunswick. In the Maritimes an action committee for pesticides is organizing a system that can quickly be mobilized if West Nile virus is positively identified. For the Arctic, Dr. Ring reported that he did field work this past summer at Alexandra Fiord with a senior undergraduate student, supported by the Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP). He circulated the latest ITEX newsletter. Recently published is a large monograph summarizing past ITEX work from all nations. Although ITEX work is thriving much of it is supported by U.S. National Science Foundation funds and Canadian funding is still poor. Dr. Olga Kukal and Ms. Valerie Bennett continued their work on Ellesmere Island, mainly studying Gynaephora. Dr. Ring circulated several publications of interest concerning northern species diversity and arctic activities. In particular, the report of the national task force on northern research was published [see ftp://ftp.nserc.ca/pub/nserc_pdf/nor/crisis.pdf] with specific recommendations to rebuild Canadian northern research, namely: to establish 24 university research chairs dedicated to northern research; to create 40 northern graduate scholarships and 40 postdoctoral fellowships; to support 70 strategic research projects of high social, industrial or environmental relevance; to build partnerships between northern communities and university researchers; and to provide funding for critical equipment, infrastructure and logistical needs.

2. Other matters
The Committee also considered other recent information on topics such as international liaisons, membership of the Scientific Committee, a brief on standards for specimen data labels, operations of the Biological Survey Secretariat, and recent Survey and other publications of faunal interest.