BEN # 263

[Adolf Ceska]

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No. 263                              January 16, 2000

aceska at victoria.tc.ca                Victoria, B.C.
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 Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2
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        This issue of BEN is dedicated to the memory of

                   ANTONI W. H. (TON) DAMMAN

                 who died on December 27, 2000



ANTONI W. H. (TON) DAMMAN (1932-2000)
From: Bernard Goffinet <goffinet at uconnvm.uconn.edu>
      originally posted on bryonet <bryonet-l at mtu.edu>
      (edited for BEN by Adolf Ceska & Karen Golinski)

Antoni (Ton) W. H. Damman, 68, of Manhattan, Kansas, formally of
Tolland,  Connecticut,  died  suddenly at Middlesex Hospital, in
Middletown, Connecticut on Dec. 27, 2000. Ton was born April 21,
1932 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, son of  the  late  Antoni  and
Wilhemina  (Adriana)  Damman.  He  studied  Plant Ecology at the
University of  Wageningen,  the  Netherlands  and  received  his
undergraduate and MS degrees.

In  1956,  Ton immigrated to Newfoundland, Canada where he was a
research scientist with the  Canadian  Forest  Service,  in  St.
Johns,  Newfoundland.  He received his Ph.D. in Biology from the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1964. Ton immigrated to the
United States in 1967  to  accept  a  faculty  position  in  the
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University
of  Connecticut,  Storrs.  While  a  professor  of  Ecology,  he
provided instruction in Botany, Plant Geography, Plant  Ecology,
and  Field  Ecology.  Ton retired from the University of Connec-
ticut in 1996 and moved to Manhattan, Kansas where he joined the
faculty in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University.

Ton established a  long  and  distinguished  career  in  wetland
ecology and published widely on the ecology, biogeochemistry and
vegetation   of   peatlands,  vegetation-habitat  relationships,
vegetation classification and mapping, ecological approaches  to
land   classification  and  plant  geography  of  eastern  North
America. He conducted the majority of his work  in  Newfoundland
and  Eastern  Canada, throughout the Eastern US, and in Northern
Europe.

He willingly volunteered his time to many professional societies
and conservation organizations. Ton was a member of the  Vegeta-
tion  Classification  Panel of the Ecological Society of America
(ESA) and helped significantly in the ongoing Initiative  for  a
Standardized Classification of Vegetation in the United States.

Ton had a passion for the outdoors and remote, beautiful places.
He  spent much of his life studying botany and plant ecology all
over the world and enjoyed sharing his  knowledge  with  others.
Dr.  Bill  Meades, who was Ton's Ph.D. student at the University
of Connecticut in the 1970's, wrote to us: "I have never  met  a
man before or since with so much enthusiasm for his science, his
students  and life in general. The expression on his face to see
a new plant or an "old friend " in  a  new  habitat  was  unfor-
getable.  The  world  has  lost  a  good  person and great plant
ecologist." Ton's love of life, sense of humor and  passion  for
teaching will be missed by all who knew him.

Ton  is survived by his wife, Loretta Johnson Damman, of Manhat-
tan, Kansas and formerly of Tolland, Connecticut, his  son  Hans
Damman  of  Sardis, British Columbia, his daughter Margreet Else
Damman Canam of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, two sisters,
Alida Wevers  and  Johanna  Wilhelm  of  the  Netherlands,  four
grandchildren  Gilbert  and  Sally  Damman,  Rebecca and Michael
Canam, and very dear friend and sister-in-law Else Visscher. Ton
was pre-deceased by his first wife Blandina Catherina Visscher.

A fund was created in the memory of Ton Damman and donations may
be made to the "University of Connecticut  Foundation"  care  of
the Ton Damman Fund, Box U-3206, Storrs, CT 06269-3206.

[Ton Damman's bibliography will appear in the next BEN. - AC]


AAPA  MIRES  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE  AND  NORTH  AMERICA: NOTES ON
   ECOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY AND CONSERVATION NEEDS
From: Pekka Pakarinen, Department of Ecology and Systematics,
   University of Helsinki, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland
   [pekka.pakarinen at helsinki.fi]

Mires (peatlands) can be surveyed at different scales. In Norway
Moen & Singsaas (1994) have  outlined  a  four-level  series  of
concepts where 'mire feature' refers to microtopographical units
(such  as  flarks,  hollows, hummocks) and 'mire complex' to the
largest unit: the entire extent of a  peatland  bounded  by  dry
terrain.  Mire  complex  types  have a characteristic macro- and
microtopography, peat stratigraphy, hydrology and arrangement of
plant communities (Sjors 1948,  Ruuhijarvi  1960,  Damman  1995,
Dierssen 1996).

Aapa   mire   is  a  specific  northern  peatland  complex  type
originally described by Cajander (1913) from  northern  Finland.
According to Cajander, aapa mires (Aapamoore in German) have the
following  key characteristics: they are large and often branch-
ing  wetlands,  predominantly  treeless  and  in  central  parts
covered  by  wet  fens  showing  a  distinct  pattern  of flarks
(=rimpis)  and  strings.  Unlike   raised   mires   (Hochmoore),
ombrotrophic vegetation types are to a large extent missing from
central  parts of aapa mires. According to Ruuhijarvi (1960) the
vegetation and surface  patterns  of  Finnish  aapa  mires  show
regional regularity. High reticulate patterns are characteristic
of aapa mires in the north-boreal/subarctic whereas low parallel
strings are common in the south-middle boreal zones.

The  Swedish and Norwegian authors emphasize the mixed nature of
northern flark mires -  the  alternation  of  minerotrophic  wet
flarks  and  locally  ombrotrophic hummocky strings - and conse-
quently prefer the term 'mixed mire' (Sjors et al., 1965; Moen &
Singsaas, 1995: Rydin et al., 1999). In international usage  and
as  an  ecological  term,  however,  mixed mire remains somewhat
vague. On the other hand, in the study of the development  of  a
central  Swedish peatland complex, Foster and Fritz (1987) apply
the concept 'patterned fen' synonymously with aapa  mire  (sensu
Cajander, 1913).

In North America, patterned minerotrophic mires (patterned fens)
have  been  observed  and studied in many areas with cold winter
climate and minerogenous  flooding  caused  by  snowmelt  or  by
groundwater:  northern  Ontario (Sjors, 1963), Red Lake Peatland
in northern Minnesota (Heinselman, 1963; Glaser  et  al.,  1981;
Glaser,  1992), northern Alberta (Vitt et al., 1975) Great Slave
Lake area in Northwest Territories (Pakarinen &  Talbot,  1976),
northern  part  of the island of Newfoundland (Damman, 1979) and
east-central Labrador, among raised bogs (Foster &  King;  1984;
and  the  author's  field observations, 1982) as well as in some
regions of Alaska (string wetlands in  Kenai  National  Wildilfe
Refuge:  Talbot  et  al.,  1985).  The  national  wetland class-
ification of Canada lists several Fen  Wetland  Forms  of  which
especially  Net Fen and Northern Ribbed have typical features of
aapa mires (Zoltai et al., 1988a, 1988b; Warner & Rubec,  1997).
An  excellent color photo of a representative Canadian aapa mire
(ribbed fen) is printed in the back cover  of  the  Wetlands  of
Canada book (Rubec, 1988).

While the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive classifies aapa
mires  as  a  priority  habitat  type, Finland and Sweden have a
special responsibility  to  effectively  protect  these  wetland
ecosystems.  One  example of an on-going conservation project in
SW Lapland is described at
http://www.vyh.fi/eng/environ/project/lifelap/eng.htm .
North European aapa mires are unique wetlands with high  vegeta-
tional  diversity  and  rich  birdlife compared to more southern
raised bogs. It is also significant to note  that  although  the
terminologies  vary, ecologically corresponding fen (or bog-fen)
wetland complexes occur over geographically extensive  areas  of
the  boreal and subarctic regions of North America and should be
given consideration by international mire and wetland  conserva-
tion programs (e.g., IMCG, IUCN/Ramsar Bureau).

References

Cajander,  A.K.  1913.  Studien  uber  die Moore Finnlands. Acta
   Forestalia Fennica 2(3): 1-208.
Damman, A.W.H. 1979. Geographic patterns in peatland development
   in eastern North America.  Proc.  Int.  Symposium  on  Class-
   ification  of  Peat  and  Peatlands, Pp. 42-57. International
   Peat Society, Helsinki.
Damman, A.W.H. 1995. Boreal  peatlands  in  Norway  and  eastern
   North  America:  a comparison. Gunneria (Univ. Trondheim) 70:
   43-65.
Dierssen, K. 1996. Vegetation Nordeuropas. Stuttgart, 838 p.
Foster, D.R. & S.C. Fritz. 1987. Mire development,  pool  forma-
   tion  and  landscape  processes on patterned fens in Dalarna,
   Central Sweden. Journal of Ecology 75: 409-437.
Foster, D.R. & G.A. King. 1984. Landscape features,  vegetation,
   and developmental history of a patterned fen in south-eastern
   Labrador, Canada. Journal of Ecology 72: 115-143.
Glaser,  P.H.  1992.  Peat  landforms. Pp. 3-14 in: Wright, H.E.
   Jr., B.A. Coffin, & N.E. Aaseng (eds.)  The  patterned  peat-
   lands  of  Minnesota.  (University  of Minnesota Press), Min-
   neapolis.
Glaser, P.H., G.A. Wheeler, E. Gorham, & H.E. Wright, Jr.  1981.
   The  patterned  mires of the Red Lake peatland, northern Min-
   nesota: vegetation, water chemistry and landforms. Journal of
   Ecology 69: 575-599.
Heinselman, M.L. 1963. Forest sites, bog processes, and peatland
   types in the Glacial Lake Agassiz region, Minnesota. Ecologi-
   cal Monographs 33: 327-372.
Moen, A. & S. Singsaas. 1994. Excursion guide for the  6th  IMCG
   field    symposium    in   Norway   1994.   Univ.   Trondheim
   Vitenskapsmuseet Rapport Botanisk Ser. 1994(2): 1-159.
Pakarinen, P. & S. Talbot. 1976. Observations on  the  aapa-mire
   and  raised-bog vegetation near Great Slave Lake, Canada. Suo
   27: 69-76 (English summary). Helsinki.
Rubec, C. (ed.) 1988. Wetlands  of  Canada.  Environment  Canada
   (Ecol. Land Classif. Ser. 24: 1-452). Ottawa.
Ruuhijarvi,  R. 1960. Uber die regionale Einteilung der nordfin-
   nischen Moore. Ann. Bot. Soc. Fennici 31, No. 1. 360 p.
Rydin, H., H. Sjors, &  M. Lofroth. 1999. Mires.  Acta Phytogeo-
   graphica Suecica 84: 91-112.
Sjors, H. 1948.  Myrvegetation i Bergslagen.  Acta  Phytogeogra-
   phica Suecica 21: 1-299.
Sjors, H. 1963. Bogs and fens on  Attawapiskat  River,  northern
   Ontario. National Museum of Canada Bulletin 186: 45-133.
Sjors,  H.,  F. Bjorkback, & Y. Nordqvist. 1965. Northern mires.
   Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 50: 180-197.
Talbot,  S.S.,  M.B.  Shasby,  &  T.N.  Bailey.  1985.  Landsat-
   facilitated  vegetation  classification of the Kenai National
   Wildlife Refuge and adjacent areas, Alaska. Pp.  333-345  in:
   The   Tenth  William  T.  Pecora  Remote  Sensing  Symposium,
   Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Vitt, D.H., P. Achuff, & R.E. Andrus. 1975: The  vegetation  and
   chemical  properties of the patterned fens in the Swan Hills,
   north-central Alberta. Canad. J. Bot. 53: 2776-2795.
Warner, B.G. & C.D.A. Rubec (eds.) 1997.  The  Canadian  Wetland
   Classification  System.  Wetlands Research Centre, University
   of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. 68 p.
Zoltai, S.C., C. Tarnocai, G.F. Mills,  &  H.  Veldhuis.  1988a.
   Wetlands  of  Subarctic Canada. Pp. 55-96 in: Rubec, C. (ed.)
   Wetlands of Canada. Ottawa.
Zoltai, S.C.,  S.  Taylor,  J.K.  Jeglum,  G.F.  Mills,  &  J.D.
   Johnson.  1988b.  Wetlands  of  Boreal Canada. Pp. 97-154 in:
   Rubec, C. (ed.) Wetlands of Canada. Ottawa.


IDENTIFICATION  OF   AN  INTRODUCED   POPULATION  OF   _SPHAGNUM
CUSPIDATUM_ IN BURNS BOG, BRITISH COLUMBIA
From:  Karen Golinski, School of Environmental Studies, P.O. Box
   1700,  University  of  Victoria,  Victoria,  B.C.,  V8W   2Y2
   [golinski at UVic.CA]

Ton  Damman's  contributions  to  mire  ecology ranged from com-
prehensive  studies  of  floristic,  hydrological  and  chemical
characteristics  of  eastern North American mires to more minor,
but important, work such  as  the  identification  of  _Sphagnum
cuspidatum_  Ehrh.  ex  Hoffm.  in  Burns  Bog,  near Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada in November 1999. Ton was  part  of  an
invited  panel of scientists that provided advice to the provin-
cial government on the ecological significance of Burns  Bog,  a
large  domed  bog  just south of Vancouver. During a field trip,
Ton and Klaus Dierssen identified _S. cuspidatum_ in the  field.
Ton  collected a specimen and confirmed the field identification
shortly after his  return  to  Kansas.  A  voucher  specimen  is
deposited  at the University of British Columbia herbarium (G.K.
Golinski #2203).

Prior to 1999, existence of the species in British Columbia  was
unclear.  It  had been reported from B.C. by some authors (e.g.,
Crum and Anderson, 1981; Crum, 1984; Schofield, 1992),  although
others  thought it did not occur in western North America (e.g.,
Hill, 1980; R. Andrus, pers. comm. January 2000). Its  uncertain
status  was  likely  based on confusion with the aquatic form of
Sphagnum pacificum, a species endemic to the west coast of North
America, described by Flatberg (1987). Ton's  discovery  of  _S.
cuspidatum_  in  Burns Bog prompted us to re-examine material in
the UBC herbarium, at which time we found an overlooked  collec-
tion  made  by  W.B.  Schofield (W.B. Schofield #77531) in 1982,
annotated by Kjell I. Flatberg as _Sphagnum cuspidatum_ s.  lat.
in  1984.  Thus  _S. cuspidatum_ appears to have been present in
the bog prior to 1982.

In Burns Bog, _Sphagnum cuspidatum_ forms small floating mats in
ditches alongside recently cleared cranberry fields. It is  also
widespread and abundant in parts of the bog where only the upper
layer of peat was mined. Both areas are wet throughout the year,
and plants are submerged to emergent.

_Sphagnum  cuspidatum_  was  likely  introduced  to Burns Bog on
machinery used for peat harvesting or agriculture, or  in  plant
material  used in commercial cranberry (_Vaccinium macrocarpon_)
and blueberry (_Vaccinium  corymbosum_)  operations.  Many  non-
native  plant  species  of eastern North American origin are now
widespread  in  disturbed  parts   of   Burns   Bog,   including
_Eriophorum  virginicum_,  _Hypericum  boreale_,  _Juncus brevi-
caudatus_,  _Juncus  canadensis_,  _J. pelocarpus_,  _Lysimachia   
terrestris_, _Rubus allegheniensis_, _Triadenum fraseri_, 
_Vaccinium corymbosum_,  and  _Vaccinium  macrocarpon_
(Taylor,  1994;  Lomer,  1995,  1996, Madrone Consultants, 1999,
Peter Zika, pers. comm. to A. Ceska,  November  1999).  Most  of
these  species  were first reported in British Columbia by Lomer
(1995) from the vicinity of Vancouver, in bogs and wetlands that
were converted to commercial blueberry or cranberry farms.

Elsewhere in Canada, _Sphagnum  cuspidatum_  has  been  reported
from  all provinces east of and including Saskatchewan (Crum and
Anderson, 1981; Ireland, 1982; Brassard, 1983; Crum, 1984;  Sims
and  Baldwin, 1996). Its range also extends south along the east
coast of the continent to Florida and inland to Kansas.  _Sphag-
num  cuspidatum_  is often submerged in shallow water in depres-
sions or drainage tracks in ombrogenous to  weakly  minerogenous
mires  (Crum and Anderson, 1981; Ireland, 1982; Crum, 1984; Sims
and Baldwin, 1996). It is  also  a  pioneer  species  along  the
margins  of  lakes,  and  in  Atlantic  Canada it colonizes low-
gradient roadside drainage ditches  (Crum  and  Anderson,  1981;
Ireland, 1982).

Another introduced moss at Burns Bog is _Campylopus introflexus_
(Hedw.)  Brid.  (Taylor,  1994, 1996, 1997); it is native to the
Southern Hemisphere (Schofield, 1997; Taylor,  1997).  _Sphagnum
cuspidatum_  is  probably the only introduced species of _Sphag-
num_ in British Columbia. Reports  of  _Sphagnum_  introductions
are  few.  For  example,  the  single  population  of  _Sphagnum
fimbriatum_ in South Africa was likely  introduced  from  Europe
during trout introduction to streams in the area (Magill 1981).

Although  it  is  always  more exciting to discover a previously
undetected native species than it is to find an introduced  one,
Ton  Damman's  discovery  of _S. cuspidatum_ at Burns Bog helped
clarify our understanding of _Sphagnum_ in British Columbia.

References

Brassard, G.R. 1983. Checklist of the mosses of  the  island  of
   Newfoundland, Canada. The Bryologist 86(1): 54-63.
Crum,  H.A.  1984.  Sphagnopsida,  Sphagnaceae.  North  American
   Flora, Series II 11: 1-180.
Crum, H.A. and L.E. Anderson.  1981.  Mosses  of  Eastern  North
   America. Columbia University Press, New York.
Flatberg,  K.I. 1987. _Sphagnum (Cuspidata) pacificum_, sp. nov.
   The Bryologist 92(1): 116-119.
Hill, M.O. 1980. Sphagnopsida. Pp. 30-76 in: Smith A.J.E. (ed.).
   The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland.  Cambridge  University
   Press, Cambridge, UK.
Ireland, R.R. 1982. Moss Flora of the Maritime Provinces. Publi-
   cations  in  Botany,  No. 13. National Museums of Canada, Ot-
   tawa, Ontario.
Lomer, F. 1995. Introduced bog plants around Vancouver,  British
   Columbia. BEN (Botanical Electronic News) No. 104.
Lomer, F. 1996. Introduced bog plants, Vancouver, British Colum-
   bia - Update. BEN (Botanical Electronic News) No. 128.
Madrone  Consultants.  1999.  Burns Bog Ecosystem Review: Plants
   and Plant  Communities.  Report  prepared  for  Delta  Fraser
   Properties   Partnership  and  the  Environmental  Assessment
   Office in support of the Burns  Bog  Ecosystem  Review,  with
   additional  work  on  publicly  owned lands conducted for the
   Environmental  Assessment  Office  in  association  with  the
   Corporation  of Delta. Madrone Consultants Ltd., Duncan, B.C.
   vi+144 p. + Appendiges.
Magill, R.E. 1981. Flora of Southern Africa. Bryophyta. Part  1,
   Fascicle 1. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Republic
   of South Africa, Pretoria.
Schofield,  W.B.  1992.  Some Common Mosses of British Columbia.
   Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C.
Schofield, W.B. 1997. Bryophytes unintentionally  introduced  to
   British Columbia. BEN (Botanical Electronic News) No. 162.
Sims, R.A. & K.A. Baldwin. 1996. _Sphagnum_ species in Northwes-
   tern Ontario: a Field Guide to their Identification. Northern
   Ontario  Development  Agreements  Northern  Forestry Program,
   Technical Report TR-30. Great Lakes  Forestry  Center,  Sault
   Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Taylor, T. 1994. _Eriophorum virginicum_ (Cyperaceae) in British
   Columbia. BEN (Botanical Electronic News) No. 82.
Taylor, T. 1996. A rare moss in Burns Bog. Discovery (Vancouver)
   25(2): 51.
Taylor,  T.  1997. _Campylopus introflexus_ - Moss introduced in
   British Columbia. BEN (Botanical Electronic News) No. 162.

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