Thirty Years Later

BEIGE SIDE PANEL: Thirty Years Later

BLUE PANEL:

Coming from the Grinnell tradition of anticipating evolutionary and ecological change, and of laying down collections that would document present conditions for the future, and working with Francis Cook, who was making this kind of collections for the fast-breeding Amphibians and Snakes across Canada, we often made our observations and collections with an eye to possible future change: whether among species in new situations, or invading introduced species. We sometimes tried to embody hypotheses in patterns of collections, so that future investigators would be led to test our hypotheses (especially about range expansion in introduced species), without ever having directly learned of them.

This page is a preliminary list of such projects that might be revisited in the course of the 2010 trip. If any of them interest you, or if you have suggestions or questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad - Bishops Mills Natural History Centre

Aspects of the 30-years-later project:

origins of 30-Years-Later
historic field work
journal formats

this month 30 years ago
30-Years-Later publications

planned route for 2010
field methods for 2010
teaching revisit methods

planned events
suggest a revisit
sponsors of the 30 Years project

30 Years Later home page

Projects for Thirty Years Later: revisiting situations recorded in naturalists' field notes from coast to coast to coast.

Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad - Bishops Mills Natural History Centre

All along the way we'd describe ways in which the dominant species and lay of the land has changed or stayed the same, in comparison to our previous visits. We'd revisit sites of the 1989 Charlottes-to-home series of oil paintings and other landscapes, repeat as many carefully described or data-sheeted sites as possible, look out for invasive plants and terrestrial Gastropods, sample for Wood Frog dorsal line frequencies, and harvest a lot of drift. Among amphibians at least, there is colour morph variation - all we have to do is catch another sample at the same place, to have something interesting to say. We'd constantly be on the lookout for new records of introduced Terrestrial Gastropods, and the status of Unionids, Typha, Phragmites, and all the species we've studied over the years. We'd look for the rare aquatic Gastropods, Acroloxus coloradensis, Acella haldemanni, & Stagnicola reflexa where they'd been collected before, since these species are so scattered that they've never attracted general survey efforts.

The following is an off-the-top-of-the-head listing of particular projects, for the 2010 itinerary, by province:

Newfoundland: Cornerbrook spring frogs, terrestrial Gastropods (1976).

Nova Scotia: Wayne's cellar slugs (Limax cinereoniger, 1971), wherever John Gilhen thinks we should go (Nova Scotia is the province where we've spent the least time).

Prince Edward Island: some of Francis Cook's spring surveys (1966), Leopard Frogs (1971, 2003), spring drift, Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (2003)

New Brunswick: repeat of 1976 Cambarus/Eurycea survey, Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (2003).

Quebec: Orconectes immunis (1974), Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003). Maybe head north immediately after the opening to replicate our 1974 and 2002 herpetology surveys, but this would depend on a late spring -- though if we concentrated on Newts, Plethodon, and Leopard Frogs near Louvicourt it might be practical.

Ontario (eastern): around home stuff.

Ontario (southern): Skunks Misery/Luther Marsh Thamnophis butleri (1981-1982); London Cepaea (1981), Acroloxus coloradensis.

Ontario (northeastern): occurrence of Leopard Frogs & Mink Frogs, Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (1971, 1977, 1989, 2000).

Ontario (northwestern): Crayfish distribution (1976, 1977, 1985), Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (1971, 1977, 1989, 2000).

Manitoba: Typha morphometrics (1985) and distribution (1976, 1985, 2000), Orconectes immunis (1976).

Saskatchewan: Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (2000).

Alberta: Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (2000).

British Columbia (interior): terrestrial Gastropods and herps (1976, 1989).

British Columbia (Okanagan): Oreohelix (2000), Cepaea (1998), Okanagan Lake beach drift (1985, 2000), Phragmites, Typha angustifolia (2000).

British Columbia (Yellowhead): repeat 1980, 1989 herp surveys.

British Columbia (Lower mainland): repeat our 1976 search for Ascaphus and Dicamptodon.

British Columbia (Vancouver Island): revisit Frank Island, Hamilton Marsh, Sombrio Beach, Woss and other described sites.

British Columbia (Haida Gwaii): range of introduced Pseudacris regilla, terrestrial Gastropods, condition of shells on beaches, Cumshewa Head Trail.

fws - 20 July 2009