by Chris Earley

Since many people might have been enjoying their backyard bird feeders a bit more than usual lately, here is a bird close up quiz! Can you identify them all? The answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.  A printable version of the quiz is available by clicking here: https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/April_2020/printable_quiz_animal_close-up_April_2020.pdf

By Justine Richardson

So many aspects of our daily lives have changed very quickly since I began as Director in February. We are all doing our part to protect each other and reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in our communities. Please visit the University’s COVID-19 page for updates about the University’s response: https://news.uoguelph.ca/2019-novel-coronavirus-information/

The Arboretum still has an important role to play in responding to the public health directives to stay home to slow the spread and allowing people to go outside for exercise.

Arboretum buildings, parking lots, and grounds are temporarily closed by provincial and university orders. All our workshops, bookings, tours and in-person public activities have been cancelled or postponed.

As of this writing, the province continues to allow walk through trail access for healthy people to exercise in fresh air. Arboretum trails remain open for walk through access only. Anyone getting outside must maintain a minimum 2 metres of physical distance from any other people. Thank you for respecting these restrictions.

I am so proud of our amazing Arboretum staff, from the naturalists to the horticulture team to the administrative personnel who have stepped up during this crisis to take their work home and bring their passion for The Arboretum online. They have stepped up to change the way they do things to ensure physical distancing.

Our core living collections are being maintained by our dedicated horticulture team members on a scaled-back schedule. They have implemented significant physical distancing measures so that they can continue the most critical work in the greenhouse and on the grounds to keep our collections alive and the most time-sensitive research and maintenance activities going.

The naturalist interpretation staff have taken to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, sharing pictures and scavenger hunts for the public. Thanks to their innovation and creativity, our Wednesday at Noon walks have re-launched online! Visit our social media sites for videos aimed at learning about “signs of spring”, pond life, animal communication, and more. They will be holding our first “virtual” volunteer docent meeting!

We all hopefully anticipate spring, and the flowers and leaves blooming in the coming weeks.

                                                
                                                          From the World of Trees collection, Paeonia
                                                          suffruticosa, a woody shrub originally from
                                                          Asia commonly called the Tree Peony.

Just as this spring comes, we will be seeking new ways to continue moving forward operationally this year. We will find ways to celebrate where we have come from and to honour the vision and work of the people who have created this Arboretum over 50 years and more. We will also be initiating a strategic planning process with our staff, leadership, stakeholders, students, faculty, and community members.

This Arboretum has grown up from a wide open farm field at the edge of campus into a vital urban garden and forest, and a well-loved natural heritage site in the middle of the city. We will look back over how this vision came to be, in order to take stock of our relevance in this current moment and look forward to the future.

Since we can’t do this in person, we will be sharing photos and stories from the Arboretum’s 50 years and doing this work online.

We are especially grateful to our many volunteers, and look forward to our first “virtual” volunteer appreciation event next week.

Thank you for your care, concern, questions and engagement! Please do stay safe and visit us online. We look forward to celebrating in person once this pandemic time has passed.

This April marks the 50th Anniversary of the first official plantings in the newly established University of Guelph Arboretum!

Over the coming months we will be celebrating and sharing stories of the contributions of many people who over many years have brought the Arboretum to life.

In this 1970 photograph, Dr. R. J. Hilton, the Arboretum’s founding director, is pictured with Professor W.E. Coates of Landscape Architecture, who led creation of the original Master Plan for the University of Guelph Arboretum.



According to Sean Fox, Manager of Horticulture and Curator of The Arboretum, “The first tree officially accessioned was an Ostrya virginiana (Ironwood) that is still alive in the Native Trees of Ontario collection - Accession # 1970-0001.” This tree can be found in the Native Trees of Ontario West Loop.

It was likely planted by the Arboretum’s first employee, John Curtis, who is now a horticultural park ranger near Melbourne, Australia. John reached out via email to share some memories of that period. “Even though 50 years is a long time, I still remember those early days with Dr. Hilton and the first tree plantings. In the beginning there was not research of any kind, just busy starting the plant collections. For the first year or so there was only the two of us and much of the time I was by myself. In the next few years gradually more were hired and summer students began arriving. So much has happened over the last 50 years and each time that I come back to Canada I visit The Arboretum and can see much growth and development.”

Much as grown, even the ideas about the first plantings. As Sean Fox noted, “… we sometimes say that the Zavitz Century Pines were the first trees known to be planted onsite with a shovel in 1907, but many years before we had a plant records system in place!”

You can explore our plant records for yourself from home! Our collections database, Arboretum Explorer, can be searched online at: https://guelph.arboretumexplorer.org/

by Sarah Farquharson

One of the most stunning spring blooming trees is the eastern redbud, or Cercis canadensis, as it is known botanically. This small tree typically comes into full bloom in the earlier part of spring and the blooms will stay for a few weeks if the weather remains cool. The flowers are especially eye catching because they bloom before any of the leaves have unfurled. Their magenta radiance is eye catching from across the lawn. Some people may be confused when they view the flowers because the redbud tree tends to be cauliflorous, that is to say, the flowers can grow directly out of the trunk!

This tree is native to eastern North America. The only record of a tree in the wild in Canada is from a letter dated in the 1800s that mentions a lone tree on Point Pelee. Unfortunately, we in Guelph are pushing the limits on how far north it can really flourish. It is a common sight as an understory tree in forests within the central to eastern American states. It is even the state tree of Oklahoma, but here in Canada the small tree is found as a landscaping option. Its early blooms are important providers of nectar for the pollinators, especially for native bees, such as carpenter bees. After the beautiful blooms have faded, the heart shaped green leaves are a lovely addition in the landscape for the rest of the season. This tree stays relatively small and is widely adaptable to a variety of soils, which allows for versatile use with homeowners.

The redbud tree is in the pea family, also known as Fabaceae, and therefore you will notice that they set their seeds in dry brown pods. These pods of seeds usually ripen at the end of summer and into fall. It is important to plant seeds that are sourced from a northern tree if you are going to plant a redbud here in Guelph. If they are genetically adapted enough to set seed this far north, then there is a much higher chance that their seeds will have the genetic predisposition to survive in a harsher climate. The name ‘cercis’ has its origin in the Greek word ‘kerkis’ which means weavers’ shuttle. This is due to the fact that the seed pods do resemble weavers’ shuttles in shape.

Whether you decide to plant a redbud in your yard or not, you should come visit these trees at The Arboretum. There are three especially beautiful specimens clumped together along the promenade that are absolutely showstopping when they are in bloom.

  
Redbud blossoms                                   Redbud leaves

A printable version of this article is available here: http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/April_2020/Redbud_Plant_Profile_Sarah_article.pdf

by Jenny Lin

Snakes can be a controversial conversation subject- some love them while others find them creepy. Of course, snakes are a diverse group and span so many species, but you’ll find this debate even with the humble Eastern Garter Snake. This funky little reptile is one of the most commonly encountered snakes in southern Ontario so it’s a familiar face for most people. It’s common enough that it can be enjoyed regularly in the wild, but just uncommon enough that a sighting warrants an excited announcement back at the office to your colleagues (what, you guys don’t do that?). It was probably even the first introduction to reptiles for many young naturalists! Its familiarity doesn’t give it a free pass on the regular stigma against snakes though, and not everyone would be happy to find one of these sunning in their backyard. But for all its (undeserved) bad rap, the Eastern Garter Snake is an amazing animal so let’s count down the ways that these guys rock.

Number 1: they have an awesome name. Lots of people see this small green snake and several different colloquial names may come to mind- grass snake, garden snake, gardener snake, etc. But these are not the proper common name! The last one especially makes no sense- these snakes have never been observed gardening (the lack of arms probably makes it hard to use the normal tools). The proper common name is Eastern Garter Snake and while this distinction may seem pedantic, it's important because garter snake is the perfect description for the species. They were named this because a long time ago, men would wear these stripey garters to hold up their socks. They then discovered these striped snakes and thought, “hey, you know what this kind of looks like…?” So they became the garter snake. Easy, descriptive, and a good origin story to boot- you just can’t beat it!

                            
                                 An Eastern Garter Snake and a Red-sided Garter Snake,
                                 both showing their stripes.

Number 2: they smell better than you. And I don’t mean that in a “please wear more deodorant” kind of way, more in a “they can sniff out things better than a dog” kind of way. The next time you see a garter snake (or any other snake!), have a closer look and you might notice that they have no ears! That’s right folks, you will never find ears on any snake and if you do, it isn’t a snake (look up legless lizards, you won’t regret it!). This means that snakes are notoriously bad at hearing, though exactly how bad is up for debate since they do still have an inner ear. Regardless, hearing is not their strong suit. And it doesn’t stop there because, having drawn the short stick in terms of senses, their eyesight isn’t great either. So, a snake is mostly exploring the world around it with its sense of smell, which is where it shines. Snakes have an amazingly keen sense of smell due to its Jacobson’s organ, which is a cluster of chemoreceptor cells on the roof of its mouth. When it’s smelling something, a snake will essentially stick its tongue out, catch bits of whatever smell is in the air, then stick that tongue back in their mouth and press it up to their Jacobson’s organ. This sense of smell is so sensitive that they can make out whether or not prey or predators are around and react accordingly. A closer inspection of that tongue will also reveal that it’s forked with 2 ends, which is another adaptation for smelling. Having a forked tongue helps them smell with direction because if one end of the fork can smell something- like maybe food- more strongly than the other end, the snake knows that it’s in that direction. Imagine being in a room with a hidden cupcake but you know exactly where it is because you can smell it. Now that’s a super power I can get behind.

Number 3: ovovivipary. No, I didn’t stutter- ovovivipary is how Eastern Garter Snakes give live birth! It’s a common thought that all reptiles lay eggs but the Eastern Garter Snake is here to bust that myth for you. Now, these guys don’t give live birth in the way that mammals give live birth so to understand, let’s rewind the tape a little bit. Reptiles evolved from labyrinthodont amphibians about 300 million years ago and their success as terrestrial vertebrates had a lot to do with the evolution of large-yolked eggs that provided the embryo with an independent water supply. This, along with internal fertilization, allowed reptiles to move further away from water and diversify. In fact, they did so well that they were pretty much the dominant life form during the Mesozoic era, otherwise known as the age of the reptiles. Being known for a whole era is a pretty big deal! True to their evolutionary history, all snakes make eggs (ovo= egg). Yet as time went on, some reptiles evolved the ability to retain their eggs inside of them until they hatched, giving birth to fully developed young (vivipary= live birth)!

To wrap things up, I’ve given you three reasons so far why Eastern Garter Snakes rock but that’s barely the tip of the iceberg for how cool these snakes are! I won’t trap you with a 500 page essay on the awesomeness of garter snakes though so we’ll leave it here but I hope that this either changes your mind on snakes (or reinforces your love for them)! With the weather warming up and all the snakes emerging from their hibernaculums, Eastern Garter Snakes should be an increasingly regular sight around The Arboretum. So the next time you see one on your walk, stop and take a moment to appreciate your neighborhood garter snake!

A printable version of this article is available at: https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/April_2020/Garter_Snake_Jenny_Article.pdf

The Arboretum grounds are used by many researchers, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and researchers from external organizations. Once again this past fall, several groups of undergraduate students from BIOL*3010 (Lab & Field Work in Ecology) were at The Arboretum working on independent projects under the guidance of Drs. Karl Cottenie and Christina Caruso. One of these projects is described below. If you would like further information on research at The Arboretum please contact our Research Co-ordinator, Dr. Aron Fazekas at [log in to unmask].

Leaf nitrogen content of an invasive shrub (Rhamnus cathartica) and relative abundances of invasive earthworms in Southern Ontario temperate forests

By: Nicole Moore, Breanna Redford, and Emily Young

Although earthworms can be found in gardens and soils across North America, they are all invasive species originating from Eurasia. Earthworms are detritivores, feeding on dead matter on the forest floor such as fallen leaves from nearby trees and shrubs. Preferential feeding on leaf litter exposes bare soils, a prime condition for the invasion and proliferation of common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). Furthermore, the invasion of common buckthorn in forest ecosystems may facilitate the establishment of invasive earthworms, threatening Ontario’s temperate forests with an invasion meltdown. Facilitation between invasive species may lead to accelerated invasion rates and the increased displacement of native plant species.

Previous research has shown that common buckthorn often has a higher abundance of earthworms present in their respective soils relative to native shrub species; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Earthworms have also been shown to feed on leaves with higher nitrogen content; therefore, our research project for BIOL*3010 aimed to determine if there was a positive association between common buckthorn and earthworms due to the high nitrogen content of buckthorn leaves. We predicted that there would be more earthworm castings in soils surrounding common buckthorn and that as nitrogen content decreases in shrub species, so does earthworm cast abundance.

To test our hypothesis and predictions, we performed a field study in the University of Guelph Arboretum to examine the number of earthworm castings in soils dominated by four different shrub species, in order of decreasing leaf nitrogen levels: common buckthorn, black cherry (Prunus serotina), gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa), and black alder (Alnus glutinosa).

We observed that there was not a significant change in earthworm abundance based on the leaf nitrogen contents of each species of shrub, suggesting that nitrogen does not cause the association between common buckthorn and earthworms. Although there was a lack of evidence to suggest statistical significance, it is possible that nitrogen may still be a factor behind their mutualistic relationship. Future research in an uncontrolled forest ecosystem, where common buckthorn is more prevalent, may be helpful in determining the reason for this association, and ultimately lead to management strategies that could decrease the potential for future invasion meltdowns.

 
Figure 1. Soil within a quadrat, showing casting and
holes that are indicative of earthworm activity.

We are still able to send out our merchandise and publications orders. Orders can be placed on our website at: https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/education-events/arboretum-merchandise

The temporary change in lifestyle may be offering you an opportunity to spend time learning about things you always wished you could. Our booklets and biodiversity sheets make great learning tools if you are trying to spend some time out in your backyard educating your kids or even yourself.

Currently all University events are cancelled until July 1, 2020. This means that our rental space cannot be rented out until after that date, although we are watching as the situation unfolds to see of that date will change or not. That however does not mean that you can't plan ahead for the more distant future. We are booking weddings into next summer. Our grounds and banquet space offer a unique experience and setting for weddings and other events. If you are interested in receiving more information or checking dates than please contact our Bookings Coordinator Dawn Ann Webster at [log in to unmask].  Further information is also available on our website.

    

If you are looking for a way to explore the great outdoors in a safe way than join Kitty and Jenny each week for our Virtual Wednesday Walks. Below are the links for the walks over the past weeks. The walks are posted each week on our social media.

March 25, 2020 Animal Signs at The Arboretum: https://youtu.be/J2CkZ8M4GCc

April 1, 2020 Signs of Spring at The Arboretum: https://youtu.be/_rvnWCJXvpk

April 8, 2020 Pond Study in Wild Goose Woods: https://youtu.be/bVCuJJBUOD0

April 15, 2020 A Walk Through Victoria Woods: https://t.co/IuCuYlJTKB?amp=1

Would you like to see more of what is happening at The Arboretum or read more nature related information? Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr and YouTube by searching @uogarboretum.

Sadly we have had to cancel or postpone all the workshops we had scheduled for this Spring. We are exploring opportunities for virtual workshops and programs, starting with some small group meetings with docents and volunteers. Please email us with suggestions for virtual workshops you would be interested in registering for at [log in to unmask].

With the arrival of spring and the weather warming up, it seems like lots of critters are getting busy preparing for the breeding season. Spring Peepers and Wood frogs have been singing loudly and consistently at the Wild Goose Woods boardwalk in their efforts to attract a mate. Robins and cardinals have also started singing again, so it’s been a noisy (lovely) couple of weeks for nature at the Arb! Some animals are further along though, and the resident Cooper’s hawks have already built a nest and seem to be settling in!

All the maples along the promenade are blooming and beautiful right now but other things are opening up as well! The Leatherwood have delicate yellow flowers that are starting to open up. There are also lots of trout lilies popping out in Victoria Woods and though they aren’t flowering just yet, they should be soon!

             
Waking up from winter in our Henry Kock Propagation Centre, this little elm sapling is the result of a conservation grafting effort, through our Elm Recovery Project, to save the genetics of a large elm tree on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Happy, healthy, and raring to grow!


A Freeman's Maple (Acer x freemanii), along our Arboretum Promenade, showing
the beautiful contrast between the male flowers above and the female flowers below.
photo by: Sean Fox

Leatherwood (Dirca palustris) 
Photo by:Jenny Lin

back to quiz

Your donation can be directed to The Arboretum online through the secure University of Guelph donation page: https://secure3.convio.net/uofg/site/Donation2?df_id=3321&mfc_pref=T&3321.donation=form1&single_designee=arboretum

If you prefer not to make an online donation, there are several other ways to provide your financial support. You can choose to donate by telephone, mail, fax, or in person:

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH Attention Alumni Affairs 50 Stone Road East Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Tel: 1-888-266-3108 ext. 56934 Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 56934 Fax: 519-822-2670 Email: [log in to unmask]

If you would like information on bequests and planned giving to The Arboretum please contact:

Jayne Whitfield
Gift Planning Manager
at (519) 824-4120 ext. 56196 or by e-mail at [log in to unmask]