Orbis Environmental Consulting

Menu

NOTEWORTHY COLLECTIONS

Rediscovery of Mimulus alatus in Michigan

Scott Namestnik

Significance of the Report. Prior to this collection, Mimulus alatus was considered extirpated from Michigan and had not been collected in the state since 1916. Previous Knowledge. Mimulus alatus Aiton (Phrymaceae) (Figure 1), the winged monkey-flower, wing-stemmed monkey-flower, or sharpwing monkeyflower, is a perennial herb of low ground, occurring primarily in swamps and wet woods and on shady streambanks (Fernald 1950; Gleason and Cronquist 1991); it is also known from wet open places (Penskar and Crispin 2004). A common plant farther south (Swink andWilhelm 1994; Voss and Reznicek 2012), M. alatus reaches the northern extent of its native range in Iowa, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, and Ontario (Kartesz 2015; USDA, NRCS 2016). In Michigan, the most recent herbarium records of M. alatus are from Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties in the southeastern corner of the state (Voss and Reznicek 2012), but Voss (1996) questioned the origin of the records from Oakland and Wayne counties, noting that the collections from all three counties were made on the same day in 1916 by different collectors who nevertheless often botanized together. He suspected that all three collectors were together when the plant was collected in Macomb County (the collection with the most precise locality data on the label) and that the other two collectors labelled their collections later when they were uncertain of their provenance. In addition, a First Survey collection of M. alatus by John Wright and George Bull from Berrien County in 1838 was recently discovered (A. Reznicek pers. comm. August 12, 2015; Reznicek et al. 2011).

Click Here to read the entire article

Click here to see more of Scott’s informative work

<Back to articles

 

 

Tessa M. Aby-Kruger

Botanist

Tessa is a geologist, botanist and vegetation ecologist with over 10 years of experience managing and conducting projects, specializing in ecological and floristic inventories, rare plant surveys, and vegetation monitoring. She also performs wetland evaluations and is a guided hike leader.

Jeremy Sheets

Senior Wildlife Biologist, Vice President

Jeremy is a founding member of Orbis and directs its ecological and wildlife surveys, assessment and planning services, and brings over 20 years’ experience conducting various wildlife surveys with a focus on bat ecology and urban wildlife management.


Jeremy has managed wildlife projects for private firms and the public sector including for wind facilities, pipelines, roadways, military bases, and airports. Jeremy is proficient in wildlife management/control techniques, wildlife identification, threatened and endangered species, and surveying and analysis techniques for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects. Jeremy is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Qualified Airport Wildlife Biologists who develop Wildlife Hazard Assessments (WHA) and Wildlife Hazard Management Plans (WHMP) for airports. Jeremy is qualified to inspect erosion, sediment and stormwater plans, and their implementation. Furthermore, Jeremy is federally permitted to conduct endangered bat surveys in USFWS Regions 3, 4, 5, and 6 and includes acoustic surveys, mist-netting, and radio telemetry.

J Ryan Duddleson​

Senior Archaeologist, Principal

Ryan is a founding member of Orbis and directs its cultural resource management services, and brings over 20 years’ experience helping clients assess and minimize the risk of impacting places with cultural value.


Ryan works with public sector clients including federal, state, and municipal government, as well as private firms in energy, transportation, industrial, and development sectors. He also coordinates with agencies and consulting parties involved with the National Environmental Policy Act, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and other related cultural resource laws and regulations. He performs archival research, analysis, and excavation. Ryan also has experience in artifact and archival curation. He has applied innovative techniques to traditional artifact analysis, such as examining organic residues from prehistoric pottery to determine prior contents. Ryan also has experience with human remains in archaeological settings. Ryan meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, 48 FR. 44716 and is a Qualified Professional Archaeologist in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.