A dung moss, also known as Splachnum ampullaceum. Photo: R. Caners If you can get past the unflattering name, dung mosses might just be one of the most fascinating groups of species you will ever come across. As the name suggests most species in this moss family are closely associated with dung. But they do [...]
Vimeo videos of the ABMI’s inaugural speaker’s series presentations are now available! Find links below on topics ranging from biodiversity management and climate change adaptation to ecological recovery monitoring of reclaimed lands… The ABMI’s Application Centre develops products and services that build on ABMI’s core capacity to monitor long-term broad-scale changes in biodiversity. These applications [...]
Acarologist (mite expert) Dave Walter “retires” from the ABMI; joins University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. To say that acarologist Dr. Dave Walter wrote the book on mites (Acari) would be no cliché. In fact Walter, who “retires” as the ABMI’s acarologist and taxonomic advisor this month, is co-author of six and author of three [...]
Come and learn about “Better Environmental Management Through Monitoring”, otherwise known as: Land use planning that accounts for the location and needs of Alberta’s rare plants and animals. Forest management that adjusts to shifting forests in an age of climate change. The development of market-based systems to value wetlands that store and purify water. These [...]
A great place to start looking at lichens in Alberta is in Crimson Lake Provincial Park located just northwest of Rocky Mountain House. Here, you can walk through a few different forest types in the course of a 10 km hike. You’ll find burnt stumps covered in baby Cladonia lichens and Cockleshell lichens. Veteran poplar [...]
“Without lichens, the world would be bereft of beauty – lichens are the bling, the colour, the contrast in many of our ecosystems, including our urban environments. Beautiful oranges, red sexual structures, geometric patterns on rocks and concrete. And because we’re only just beginning to understand the diversity they harbour, we also don’t know the [...]
They might look a little like aliens from a 1960s science fiction film, but soil mites are important, often overlooked and under-appreciated aspects of biodiversity. But the Royal Alberta Museum’s Dave Walter (Taxonomic Advisor / Acarologist) is out to change all of that.