All posts in Biodiversity

The Recovery of Porsild’s Bryum

Porsild’s Bryum Provincial Recovery Team video by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Along the Whitehorse Creek in Whitehorse Wildland Park in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains lives an Endangered* species. It’s green and cushy, and it loves water. Porsild’s Bryum is one of more than 1,000 species of moss found in Canada. Like many moss species, [...]

A Dragon in Alberta!? ABMI Vascular Plant Taxonomist Records New Orchid Sighting in Alberta.

It was a day like any other when Varina Crisfield, the ABMI’s Vascular Plant Taxonomist, showed up for work at the ABMI’s Processing Centre at the Royal Alberta Museum*. Little did she know, she was about to achieve something few Alberta botanists can expect to do these days: identify a new species record for the [...]

Alberta’s Wonderful World of Bryophytes

From upper left (clockwise): Sphagnum magellanicum, photo: M. Luth; Polytrichum commune, photo: M. Luth; Anthelia juratzkana (liverwort), photo: R. Caners; Scorpidium scorpioides, photo: R. Caners; Brachythecium rivulare, photo: R. Caners    Part 1: Introducing Bryophytes It’s a beautiful spring day and you are walking through a lush, green boreal forest somewhere in northern Alberta. The sunlight [...]

Blazing Ahead of Climate Change – The Potential for Assisted Migration of Alberta’s Native Plants

It’s the Goldilocks principle. All species, including plants, animals, and fungi, are uniquely adapted to a specific combination of climate and environmental conditions that they need to grow, reproduce and thrive – things need to be “just right”. If the environment changes, species have two choices: they can either stay where they are and adapt [...]

Bogs and Bison: My Week in Zama City – A Field Technician’s Experience of the 2014 Summer Shifts

There is a moment of panic that comes when you sink through a soft spot in a cattail marsh. Your first thought is, “how deep am I sinking this time?” followed by, “hopefully this water doesn’t go over my waders.” Your next thoughts are focused on getting out: “I’m only in up to my belly-button, [...]

ABMI on Vimeo.

Valuing Nature’s Services in Alberta

Have you ever wondered what Alberta’s landscape will look like in the future? Like many Albertans, Bill Newton is hopeful for the future of his family ranch near the Porcupine Hills, despite increasing pressure to convert it to residential properties, other developments, or even cultivated crops.  The challenge for land owners like Bill is the [...]

ABMI on the Small Screen

Did you know that, by the end of the century, Alberta’s climate is projected to become warmer, by an average of 2-4°C, as well as drier and more variable? In response to this change, Alberta’s ecosystems are predicted to shift northward and upslope.  These are big changes and will affect our landscapes, species and communities. [...]