Citizen Science - Looking for Rhinanthus minor in southern Alberta

Hello Friends of Kananaskis Country!

I am a PhD student at Queen's University (in Kingston, Ontario) and have just arrived in Kananaskis Country to conduct a summer's worth of field work. I am continuing our lab’s work (under Dr. Chris Eckert) in the region studying the evolution and maintenance of species geographic ranges. More specifically, our lab is researching adaptation to elevation and elevational range limits in the meadow plant Rhinanthus minor (Orobanchaceae). I will be investigating genetic factors limiting adaptation at R. minor’s upper and lower elevational range margins. My work will help us better understand how species will respond to our continually changing climate, and will therefore contribute to more effective and efficient conservation and management efforts. However, I need some help to maximize the impact of my research!

First a little about the plant, many of you may already be familiar with it or know it better by one of its many common names (commonly yellow rattle, but also hay rattle, cockscomb, little rattle, rattle basket). Given the potential for confusion with so many common names, I prefer to use its scientific name: Rhinanthus minor which loosely translates to little (minor, Latin) nose (Rhin-, Greek) flower (anthos, Greek). Rhinanthus minor is an annual, with limited seed dormancy, so if a seed falls on the ground in the autumn, it usually germinates the following spring, or it dies. Rhinanthus minor seeds are relatively large and it doesn’t produce very many so they are easy to count. These characteristics make quantification of an individual’s reproductive success and therefore its fitness straightforward; it is an ideal system for an evolutionary study. Perhaps its most intriguing feature is that it is a hemiparasite (a characteristic of the family Orobanchaceae), tapping in to neighbouring plant’s roots to steal nutrients with specialized root organs called haustoria. Rhinanthus quite literally sucks the sap out of its neighbours. While it can occasionally survive with out a host plant, it does not usually do well. Nevertheless, Rhinanthus minor is distributed across the southern Rocky Mountains and given the vast area this encompasses, and my desire to capture a broad range of its habitat, I will not be able to adequately survey the region alone. This is where you come in!

I am hoping to enlist your help in locating populations of this intriguing species throughout southern Alberta, particularly in and around Kananaskis Country. Ideal sites will be located near roads (but not on the mowed shoulder) or more likely trails from the valley bottoms and foothills, right up to mountain ridges and peaks. To aid in the reporting of Rhinanthus populations, I have developed a form on my website (www.davidensing.com/getinvolved) and “Rhinanthus Tracker”, a FREE iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch app (currently pending approval from Apple). These reporting tools have further details on species identification, a brief description of my project, my contact information, and forms for entering population details. I also have an entry form that you can print and take into the field; I am happy to send the paper form to you by email upon request. The use of any of these forms and tools will ensure you collect the necessary data for my project.

Absolutely anyone, of any age or ability can and is encouraged to participate in my project. There is no obligation and no sign in or registration. While I do request your name and some contact information, you can rest assured that it will never be shared with anyone, and will only be used by the research team to contact you if we have a question about a site you reported, or to give you an update on our work. I welcome feedback, of any kind, at any time; to contact me please send an email to the address below.

I would like to thank the Friends of Kananaskis Country for agreeing to share this opportunity with their membership and especially YOU for your interest in my work! I look forward to your participation in my project.

THANK YOU!

David Ensing email: [email protected] Web: www.davidensing.com

PhD Student Eckert Lab Department of Biology Queen's University 116 Barrie Street Kingston, Ontario

Current Address: Barrier Lake Field Station Biogeoscience Institute (University of Calgary) Kananaskis, Alberta http://bgs.ucalgary.ca/