Michael J. Oldham

Bioclimatic and spatial analysis of Ontario reptiles and amphibians

AbstractThis paper presents the results of a bioclimatic and spatial analysis of reptiles and amphibians native to Ontario. Using a large database of known observations and a new spatially explicit climate model of the entire province, climatic domains of 43 species and subspecies were derived and subsequently mapped. A useful aspect of the analysis is that it not only explicitly summarizes what is currently known about species occurrences, it also identifies those parts of the province which have a similar climate. This will assist in designing field survey and monitoring programs and ecological restoration activities. By overlaying each of the 43 maps in a Geographic Information System, regions of the province with potentially large species gradients were identified. These areas are currently the focus of ongoing field studies.

Terrestrial molluscs from the Ontario Far North

From 2009–2014, incidental collections of terrestrial molluscs were made from the Far North of Ontario, Canada. Thirty-four species of terrestrial molluscs were identified from these collections, including one exotic species, Deroceras reticulatum, and three newly reported species from the Far North, Vallonia pulchella, Vertigo cf. genesii, and Gastrocopta similis. Vertigo cf. genesii is newly reported from Ontario. Some species have not been collected in Ontario for many years and some of these only once before. Subnational conservation ranks are discussed for higher-ranked species.

Mollusca, Gastropoda, Ellobiidae, Carychium minimum, and Ferussaciidae, Cecilioides acicula: Distribution extension and first provincial records of two introduced land snails in Ontario, Canada

The distributions of introduced terrestrial gastropod mollusks in Ontario, Canada are only partially known, and the main references on introduced land snails and slugs in the province (Pilsbry 1939; 1940; 1946; 1948; Oughton 1948; Chichester and Getz 1973; Grimm and Wiggins 1974; and Dundee 1975) are incomplete. Of the several species of introduced snails known from Ontario by the late F. Wayne Grimm (personal communication to MJO, 8 December 1996), we recently have been able to verify two of them, Carychium minimum and Cecilioides acicula. Although these species have been known from Ontario for about a decade (personal communication to MJO, 8 December 1996), records of both have been unpublished until now. The material originally seen by Mr. Grimm has not been found in his collection that is now being curated for deposit in the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, and we have been unable to determine if it was deposited in another collection. The Ontario record of C. acicula also represents a new species record for Canada.

Taxonomic Recognition of Ammophila champlainensis and Morphological Variation in Northeastern North American Ammophila (Poaceae)

Abstract Champlain beachgrass (Ammophila champlainensis) was described by Seymour in 1966 as endemic to the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York. Some later authors have recognized it while others have not, or they have treated it at a different rank. In order to resolve the issue of the recognition and appropriate rank, nine characters, including those suggested by previous authors as important to distinguish this taxon, were measured in 457 specimens from throughout the northeastern North American range of Ammophila. A reduced data set of 281 specimens and seven characters was studied using: (1) analysis of variance to determine optimal characters for differentiating geographical groups; (2) scatter plot analysis of optimal characters; (3) principal component analysis to investigate the major trends in pattern of variation without character weighting; (4) discriminant analysis to determine the extent of differentiation using a weighted formula; and (5) linear regression to reveal trends in variation related to size of associated water bodies. The analyses failed to clearly separate the plants from Lake Champlain from other Ammophila populations. However, the Lake Champlain plants were the most discrete of nine natural geographic groups, followed by plants from Lac Saint-Jean, and then plants from the Atlantic coast. None of the geographic groups was sufficiently different to justify recognition of distinct taxa due to the extensive overlap in measurements of characters. Populations adjacent to smaller water bodies, where dunes tend to be smaller and less active, tend to have smaller plants with smaller parts. Plants from Lake Champlain, including those described and identified as A. champlainensis, and all other northeastern populations of Ammophila, are best treated as the single species A. breviligulata.

Square-stalked St. John’s-wort, Hypericum tetrapterum , in Peel Region, Ontario: a New Non-native Vascular Plant Species for Eastern North America

The Eurasian Square-stalked St. John’s-wort ( Hypericum tetrapterum Fr.: Hypericaceae) was found growing in an open Eastern White Cedar ( Thuja occidentalis L.) swamp in Caledon, Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario. This is the first record for eastern North America; previous North American occurrences have been on the Pacific coast in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1991), and in Wahkiakum County, Washington State, USA (2003).

Forty years later: distribution of the introduced Heath Snail, Xerolenta obvia , in Ontario, Canada (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Hygromiidae)

Xerolenta obvia is a Central European land snail that is introduced to Ontario, Canada, where it was first recorded in the literature in 1975 from a single population at Bethany (City of Kawartha Lakes). Over the four decades since that publication, additional records have been found clustered near Bethany, within the City of Kawartha Lakes, and in neighbouring Peterborough County and the Regional Municipality of Durham. Two distant sites are also now known, one in rural Ottawa (southeastern Ontario), and one at Windsor, Essex County (southwestern Ontario).

Patera appressa (Say, 1821), an introduced land snail in Ontario, Canada (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Polygyridae)

The geographic distribution and habitat of Patera appressa (Say, 1821) in Canada are described. This is a North American land snail native to the southern Appalachians but it has been known, since 1994, from a cluster of sites in Trenton, City of Quinte West, Ontario, where it is presumably introduced. It may no longer be extant at any of the known Ontario sites.

Distribution of Strobilops aeneus Pilsbry, 1926, in Canada, with two new Ontario records (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Strobilopsidae)

The geographic distribution of Strobilops aeneus Pilsbry, 1926, a rare species in Canada, is reviewed and all known records are mapped. Two recent records, the only ones since 1941, are reported from the province of Ontario. One of these records represents a small range extension ca. 85 km north of the closest previous site. Specimens identified as S.