Samuel R Brinker

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada · Science & Research Branch

Noteworthy records of forty-three lichens and allied fungi are presented based on recent collections from Ontario, Canada. Three species, Agonimia borysthenica, Arthonia subconveniens (on Ricasolia quercizans) and Lecanographa abscondita are reported for the first time from North America. Eleven species, Erythricium aurantiacum (on Physcia millegra...

Rhizoplaca ouimetensis is described new to science, growing on outcrops of diabase sills in the Lake Superior region of Ontario, Canada. It is the first known sorediate species of the genus, and a phylogenetic reconstruction based on the ITS and mtSSU markers place it in the R. chrysoleuca group. Morphologically, however, it resembles sorediate, ye...

This article documents seven vascular plant species new to Ontario primarily reported through iNaturalist (four of the species are also new records for Canada).

One-hundred and sixty-three new or noteworthy lichens and allied fungi are reported from Ontario based on new collections. The lichens Lecanora atromarginata, L. gisleriana, Rhizocarpon ridescens and Sclerococcum griseisporodochium are new to North America. The reported species new to Canada are: Abrothallus bertianus, Absconditella trivialis, Agon...

Botrychium mormo W. H. Wagner is reported as an addition to the vascular flora of On-tario from the Thunder Bay District. Described in 1981, this diminutive species of rich northern hard-woods in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest region has been named Little Goblin Fern, because of its peculiar whitish or pale yellow colouration and its tendency...

The first confirmed North American record of Acarospora bullata is reported from a granite cliff in southeastern Ontario, Canada. The ecology and conservation status of the population is discussed. A taxonomic account of the species, including a description based on the newly collected material, is provided.

This study, led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s Natural Heritage Information Centre, used NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) to assess the relative vulnerability of 280 species in Ontario’s Great Lakes basin to climate change. The index incorporates a framework that separates a species’ vulnerability into 2...

An unpublished report on willows of northern Ontario.

The Golden-eye Lichen, Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, is a distinctive bright orange to greenish-grey, tree-inhabiting macrolichen. The thallus has a tufted, shrubby habit often with flattened branches held to surfaces by a central holdfast. The abundant orange fruiting bodies (apothecia) with ciliate margins and the lack of vegetative propagules su...

Since this lichen was last assessed in 2004, increased search effort and a better understanding of its habitat requirements have revealed new occurrences in Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec and the minimum number of mature individuals is now estimated at 350,000. Canada is thus the stronghold for this species which has declined or disappeared from els...

Leptogium rivulare is a rarely reported boreal-temperate cyanolichen widely distributed in glaciated portions of Asia, eastern North America, and eastern, central, and western Europe, between the 44°N and 60°N parallels. In the USA, its historical range extended as far south as Illinois and Vermont (possibly in glacial refugia) but records from the...

We report on fifty-seven lichen species from forty-four genera that are new either to Canada or the Province of Ontario, are the first published records in approximately the last century, or are additional provincial records of rare species with few collections. Ranges of several species are also expanded in northeastern North America. The first pu...

The first report of Chamaenerion latifolium (L.) Holub in the Great Lakes region is described from Kama Hills, near Nipigon, Ontario. This showy, long-lived herbaceous perennial is a circum-polar arctic and alpine plant of well-irrigated, open calcareous floodplains, river bars, seepage slopes, and scree slopes in alpine zones. Its presence in the...

This annual plant is known from the shores of only two lakes at the southern edge of the Canadian Shield in southeastern Ontario. Year-to-year fluctuations in water levels along the lakeshore impact the abundance of plants. Impacts from development, recreational boating activities, and manipulation of water levels have the potential to reduce the n...

This perennial species occupies small patches of remnant tallgrass prairie and savanna at just one location in southern Ontario, where it is at risk from the combined impacts of a lack of natural disturbance by periodic fires and the presence of invasive plant species. There is a continuing decline in the quality and area of habitat available for t...

Field studies in the Hudson Bay Lowland ecoregion of northern Ontario during 2010 resulted in the discovery of four native vascular plant species not previously confirmed from the province: Arctic Bellflower (Campanula uniflora; Campanulaceae), Lapland Diapensia (Diapensia lapponica; Diapensiaceae), Alpine Azalea (Kalmia procumbens; Ericaceae), and...

A species of restricted geographical occurrence in Canada present as two remaining populations within remnant Black Oak savanna and Black Oak woodland habitats in southwestern Ontario. These habitats are globally rare and are one of the most threatened ecological communities in Canada. Most of the fewer than 600 plants are present as a single popul...

A showy perennial herb of Carolinian woodlands restricted to 3 small and highly fragmented populations occupying very limited areas. The habitat is declining in quality due to the presence of invasive plants and habitat disruption due to recreational activities that increase the risk of trampling. Further potential habitat disruption may occur with...

The current study identified, mapped, and evaluated six target species at risk identified in the terms of reference, and an additional four species at risk and two provincially rare taxa, based on a total of 116 observations. These include 3 Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata) observations, 3 Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) o...

Bartonia paniculata ssp. paniculata is a member of the disjunct Atlantic coastal plain flora in Ontario. Its entire known Canadian range includes the Georgian Bay region, well known to harbour a distinctive flora whose primary range is the Atlantic coastal plain. Disjunct coastal plain species are plants of wetland and aquatic habitats, which today...