From aceska@cue.bc.ca Tue Apr 19 13:33:35 1994 Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 21:33:17 -0700 From: Adolf Ceska To: ben@cue.bc.ca Subject: BEN # 74 Status: O X-Status: BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 74 April 19, 1994 Address: aceska@cue.bc.ca Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- MELINDA FAY DENTON (1944-1994) From: ASPT Newsletter, April 1994 The untimely death on 5 March 1994 of Professor Melinda Fay Denton (1944-1994) from an unrelenting cancer saddens all whom she touched. Her demise is particularly poignant for her col- leagues in the American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT), which Society she served with distinction as Editor-in-Chief of Systematic Botany (1984-1985) and as President (1990-1991). A celebration of her rich and productive life will be held 30 April 1994 (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) at the Center for Urban Horticulture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Memorial gifts can be made to the Melinda Denton Fund in support of student research in systematics; made payable to the Univer- sity of Washington and sent to Department of Botany KB-15, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. A full reprise of her botanical career will appear in a future number of Taxon._Arthur R. Kruckeberg, Professor Emeritus, Department of Botany KB-15, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Melinda Denton had a long association with and involvement in the activities of the ASPT. In 1978 she won the Cooley Award for her paper entitled "Endemism and evolutionary divergence in the Sedum section Gormania complex (Crassulaceae)". She also served as ASPT Secretary (1978-1979), ASPT Council Member (1981-1983), Editor-in-Chief of Systematic Botany (1984-1985), ASPT President Elect (1990), ASPT President (1991), and ASPT Past President (1992). Behind the scenes she poured her energy into other, equally important activities such as co-chairing the steering committee for "Systematics Agenda 2000. Charting the Biosphere." All of us are indebted to her for her many, generous contribu- tions to our Society._Editor of the ASPT Newsletter. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON OZONE DEPLETION AND UV RADIATION UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA, APRIL 27 - APRIL 29, 1994 A Special Public Presentation will be held as a part of the Conference in the University Centre Auditorium, Wednesday April 27, from 8:30 to 5:30 (NO BREAK FOR LUNCH !!!). Tickets for this marathon of 30 minilectures cost $ 10.00 and are available at door. The presentation will offer a wide array of topics on the impact of UV radiation on human health, terrestrial biosphere, aquatic system, forests, climate, etc. BOTANY BC MEETING - QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS - JUNE 20-25, 1994 The registration forms for the BOTANY BC annual meeting have been sent out and the deadline for registration is May 12. The program of the meeting includes one morning of lectures and a grand field trip (June 23-25) to Skidegate Narrows (and beyond). The registration fee $ 125.00 includes many meals & on-island transportation, the field trip fee is $ 150.00 (transportation and meals included), but the numbers for the field trip may have to be limited: REGISTER EARLY. For more information contact Rosamund Pojar, Box 3089, Smithers, B.C., VOJ 2N0 (phone: 847-9784) or Jim Pojar . ANTI-CORE RALLY: TWELVE PERCENT WOULD BE FINE [BEN # 72] From: N.J. Hewitt & Bristol Foster - Time-Colonist, Apr 3, 1994 The large logging companies' anti-CORE rally March 21 on the legislative lawns [in Victoria] had its theme, "12 per cent, no more." This referred, we presume, to the minimum of 12 per cent of natural areas needed for protection in each country in the world, as promoted by the Brundtland Commission and by the WWF and now accepted by the [Canadian] federal and all provincial governments. Indeed, many environmentalists would be quite relieved if 12 per cent of low and mid-elevation ancient (old-growth) forest on Vancouver Island was protected. In fact only 4.4 per cent is now protected, with another 1.4 per cent proposed for protection in the CORE report. If we are going to protect 12 per cent of all representative ecosystems (as intended in the government's Protected Areas Strategy), then some alpine and sub-alpine should be de- gazetted, to raise the amount of protected ancient forest to 12 per cent. Would this please the forest companies? it is consis- tent with their demand: "12 per cent, no more." Less than 6 per cent of Vancouver Island's ancient forest is protected or proposed for protection. This is insufficient to protect the biodiversity of this particularly rich ecosystem. To assure future generations of a healthy forest resource, we need to adhere to world standards protecting a minimum of 12 per cent of our ancient forests. SEEDS OF NATIVE FOOD PLANTS WANTED From: Brian Compton I am seeking to obtain viable seeds (or other reproductive materials) for several plants used as food by B.C. Native groups. These are to be cultivated experimentally at the UBC Botanical Garden in conjunction with ethnobiological initiatives put forth by the First Nations House of Learning at UBC. If anyone can supply native food plant seeds I would like to hear from you: Allium spp. (e.g., A. cernuum), Balsamorhiza sagitatta, Calo- chortus macrocarpus, Camassia spp., Claytonia lanceolata, Cir- sium undulatum, Conioselinum pacificum, Erythronium grandi- florum, Fragaria spp., Fritillaria spp. (including F. pudica), Hydrophyllum capitatum, Ledum glandulosum, Lewisia rediviva, Lilium columbianum, Lomatium spp. (esp. L. macrocarpum, but just about any other sp. as well), Lupinus littoralis, L. nootkaten- sis, Mentha arvensis, Potentilla anserina, Potentilla pacifica, Rubus pedatus, Rumex occidentalis, Sium suave, and Trifolium wormskjoldii; also, any of the less commonly encountered Vacci- nium spp. or Rubus spp. Brian D. Compton Ethnobiological Program Developer First Nations House of Learning E-mail: bcompton@unixg.ubc.ca NATIVE PLANTS IN FOREST RECLAMATION From: Marty Kranabetter I am interested in information concerning the use of native plants in forest reclamation. Sedges, grasses, legumes, shrubs or other plants which colonize disturbed soil would be good candidates. Also, any information concerning the biological advantages of native plants over agronomic species would be useful. My phone number is 604-565-6134. [Check the following report: Polster, D.F. 1989. Manual of plant species suitability for reclamation in Alberta. 2nd edition. Prepared for the Alberta Land Conservation and Reclamation Council by Hardy B.B.T. Ltd.] "BC VEGETATION TOO HOT" - FNA WAS TOLD [BEN # 73] Jim Pojar sent me a copy of the correspondence he had with the co-author of the FNA vegetation chapter Michael Barbour. The exchange started with Jim's caustic comments on the "North American Terrestrial Vegetation" in which Jim objected to the lack of the "Canadian content." As a result, Dr. Barbour asked Jim to review the FNA vegetation chapter and Jim made comments to those parts that were written by Dr. Barbour and that dealt mostly with the vegetation in the U.S.A. Jim did not get any manuscript from Dr. Norm Christensen (Duke University, Durham, North Carolina) who was responsible for the parts of the chapter that dealt with Canada. It is a pity that no Canadian ecologist was invited to collaborate on the FNA vegetation chapter. - AC "FOUR KILOGRAMS OF WASTE PAPER" UPSET SOME READERS [BEN # 73] From: Dr. Mary Barkworth Prices in Canada must sure be strange. We can find the money for the book version of Kartesz' checklist, but we do not have a CD- ROM reader, I am not sure when we shall be able to afford one, and it is MUCH easier to look something up in the books than it would be to get the right CD-ROM on the appropriate computer (which we do not have) and then make the search. Les Watson had a similar attitude to yours concerning grass genera of the world. Our copy of that volume is almost worn out. I can take it home and use it if I want to. .... I would rather have 5 floras than 1 CD-ROM that would get occasional use. The reader is on our wish list, for Watson and Dallwitz' families of flowering plants and the Kew Index. But I find myself thinking of smaller institutions, like Boise State University, and of the number of institutions in the US that have eliminated staff positions. The title was more negative than the actual review. ... John Strother told me that he uses 3x5 index cards and can nearly always locate information faster than people who computerize. I believe him, but I hate 3x5 cards.