Vascular plant diversity in Canada’s southern Arctic: new baseline data and significant floristic discoveries in Tuktut Nogait National Park and vicinity, Northwest Territories. Laurie L. Consaul, Jeffery M. Saarela, Lynn J. Gillespie, and Roger D. Bull, Canadian Museum of Nature, Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, ON, K1P 6P4

Table 1. New taxa for Tuktut Nogait National xploration of the flora of the Canadian Arctic has E Park and/or vicinity. been ongoing for almost two centuries, yet many regions Family Taxon remain under-explored. In 2009 we surveyed the southern Ophioglossaceae Botrychium lunaria (L.) Sw. Arctic flora of Tuktut Nogait National Park (TNNP) and Dryopteridaceae Dryopteris fragrans (L.) Schott Cyperaceae Carex concinna R. Br. vicinity in the northeastern Northwest Territories. We Cyperaceae Carex garberi Fernald collected in TNNP (travelling by canoe along the Cyperaceae Carex glareosa Wahlenb.* Hornaday River) and in coastal regions adjacent to the Cyperaceae Carex holostoma Drejer Cyperaceae Carex krausei Boeck. Park, including Paulatuk. Our 2009 work was the second Cyperaceae Carex lachenalii Schkuhr comprehensive floristic inventory for the region (the first Cyperaceae Eriophorum russeolum Fr. was in 1990; Cody et al. 1992, Canad. Field-Nat. 106: var. albidum (F. Nyl.) Väre 87-99). Poaceae Calamagrostis stricta (Timm) Koeler R.D.B. subsp. stricta Poaceae Festuca brachyphylla Schult. & Schult. f. Arctic travel – Lynn Gillespie and Jeff We made 864 vascular plant collections, including Poaceae Festuca rubra L. subsp. arctica (Hack.) Govor many first records of species for both TNNP and the Poaceae Poa alpina L. Saarela on the Hornaday River, TNNP Poaceae Poa ammophila A.E. Porsild** region as a whole (Table 1). We collected balsam poplar Poaceae Poa pratensis L. subsp. alpigena (Populus balsamifera L.) in TNNP and the adjacent (Lindm.) Hiitonen Brock River area, well beyond the ‘normal’ range of the Poaceae Puccinellia arctica (Hooker) Fernald & Weath. Asteraceae Artemisia hyperborea Rydb. species, which is generally reported as extending to the Asteraceae Taraxacum holmenianum Sahlin treeline zone in Canada. Our collections document north, Boraginaceae Mertensia maritima (L.) Gray subsp. south, and northeastern range extensions for 36 species. tenella (Th.Fr.) Elven & Skarpaas* Brassicaceae Draba borealis DC.* Map of the sites of all known vascular plant collections made To summarize existing information on the flora of the Brassicaceae Draba oligosperma Hook.* in Tuktut Nogait National Park and vicinity. Squares represent Brassicaceae Draba pilosa Adams ex Fisch. our collections made in 2009; these specimens are housed in region, we also re-evaluated all previous collections Caryophyllaceae Cerastium arcticum Lange the National Herbarium of Canada (CAN) at the Canadian made in the region. The known vascular plant flora for Caryophyllaceae Stellaria crassifolia Ehrh. Fabaceae Astragalus richardsonii E. Sheld. Museum of Nature, Ottawa. Triangles represent specimens TNNP and vicinity comprises 268 species, of which 214 Haloragaceae Myriophyllum sibiricum Komarov housed in the Vascular Plant Herbarium (DAO) at Agriculture L.L.C. are known from TNNP (including the Sahtu Orobanchaceae Pedicularis arctoeuropaea (Hultén) and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa. Circles represent specimens Plant presses drying outside the work tent extension). The flora includes 16 vascular plant species Molau & D. F. Murray housed in the Parks Canada Western Arctic Field Unit Orobanchaceae Pedicularis lapponica L. herbarium in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. in TNNP. of potential conservation concern: three “May be at risk” Plantaginaceae Plantago canescens M.F. Adams (Draba incerta Payson, Mertensia drummondii (Lehm.) G. Don, Plantaginaceae Plantago eriopoda Torr. and Symphyotrichum pygmaeum (Lindley) Brouillet & Selliah), Polygonaceae Koenigia islandica L.* Primulaceae Androsace septentrionalis L. and 13 are “Sensitive” (seven listed in Table 1, plus Primulaceae Primula egaliksensis Wormsk. ex Hornem. Castilleja hyperborea Pennell, Draba fladzinensis Wolfen, Salicaceae Populus balsamifera L. Pedicularis flammea L., Puccinellia nuttalliana (Schult.) Hitchc., Salicaceae Salix hastata L.* P. vaginata (Lange) Fernald & Weath., and Suaeda calceoliformis Saxifragaceae Micranthes tenuis (Wahlenb.) Small * considered “sensitive” in N.W.T., based on Species at Risk in the Northwest Territories, (Hook.) Moq.) 2010, http://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/_live/pages/wpPages/NWT_Species_Monitoring_Infobase.aspx ** not ranked in N.W.T.; but considered Sensitive based on our own research. Our plant inventories near the southern edge of the

Arctic ecozone provide comprehensive baseline data that Dryopteris fragrans Mertensia maritima subsp. tenella

should facilitate detection of new species arrivals Draba oligosperma L.J.G. Symphyotrichum pygmaeum R.D.B. associated with climate change.

J.M.S. Extra-limital Populus balsamifera in TNNP, growing in arctic tundra beyond its known range in Canada.

Plantago canescens

L.J.G. R.D.B. L.J.G. Pedicularis arctoeuropaea R.D.B. Taraxacum holmenianum

L.L.C. Lower Brock River canyon. Acknowledgments: We thank Parks Canada and the Polar Continental Koenigia islandica L.L.C. L.J.G. Shelf Program (PCSP) for logistical support, the Aurora Research Institute and the Inuvialuit Land Administration for research permits, Artemisia hyperborea and the community of Paulatuk and the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers L.L.C. Committee for support for this project. Research funding was provided by the Canadian Museum of Nature, Parks Canada and PCSP. We thank Chris Hunter and Janet Boxwell of Parks Canada for being great field companions in the Park, and Francis Ruben of Paulatuk for being a reliable and personable wildlife monitor at the L.L.C. Poa ammophila L.J.G. Lower Brock River. L.J.G. Phlox hoodii R.D.B. Carex lachenalii J.M.S. Coastal meadow and high tide line adjacent to Darnley Bay. Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike licence