Red mulberry (Morus rubra) recovery strategy: acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

This recovery strategy was initially drafted by John Ambrose, independent consultant and former Chair of the Red Mulberry Recovery Team, and Donald Kirk, Natural Heritage Ecologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Guelph District, in collaboration with the original Red Mulberry Recovery Team consisting of Kevin Burgess (former PhD. candidate, University of Guelph), Linda DeVerno (former Acting Assistant Director, Science and Technology Directorate, Natural Resources Canada), Brian Husband (Professor, University of Guelph), Dennis Joyce (Provincial Forest Geneticist, OMNR), Gary Mouland (former Park Ecologist, Point Pelee National Park of Canada), Paul Prevett (former Regional Ecologist, Southwest Zone and later Ecologist, Science and Technology Transfer Unit, OMNR), Lisa Twolan (former RENEW Coordinator, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada), and P. Allen Woodliffe (Aylmer District Ecologist, OMNR). Numerous people assisted in providing information and ideas for the study of this species, going back to early surveys on this species more than a decade ago (George Meyers [Grimsby Naturalist], Mike Oldham [Natural Heritage Information Centre {NHIC}, OMNR], and Gerry Waldron [M.Sc. Consulting Ecologist]), to early studies of the hybrid dynamics and population biology by Peter Kevan and Steve Stewart (Professors, University of Guelph). Several additional people assisted with field observations (Steven Aboud [Abound and Associates Inc.], John Ambrose, Dirk Janas [private consultant], Bill Kilburn [former Summer Assistant, Toronto Zoo], Mark Laird, and Brendon and Jeff Larson [students]) and in determining propagation techniques (Henry Kock, former Interpretive Horticulturalist, University of Guelph Arboretum). Dirk Janas, Kevin Burgess, and Brian Husband completed habitat mapping and ELC classification for Red Mulberry, across its Canadian range, in 2001 for the OMNR. The Royal Botanical Gardens staff (Paul O'Hara, Christine Thuring, Tyler Smith, Carl Rothfels, Sean Spisani, and Jennifer Sylvester) completed Red Mulberry inventories, ELC mapping and health assessments of trees in the Hamilton area. John McLaughlin and Sylvia Greifenhagen (Ontario Forest Research Institute) completed a pathological survey and provided disease management recommendations for Red Mulberry in southern Ontario. Tim Pearce, of the University of Michigan, identified gastropod specimens from Point Pelee National Park and provided information on their ecology. Bill Stephenson (former Conservation Biologist, Parks Canada Agency [PCA]) provided significant input into the earlier management plan developed for the Point Pelee National Park population. Paul Prevett is acknowledged for his initiative in doing a recovery plan for a plant species when the system was only looking at animal species. Appreciation is expressed to the recovery team who participated actively in developing and reviewing many versions of this recovery strategy. The OMNR and World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF) provided funding respectively for the early surveys and the later population biology studies. PCA matched the WWF funding and supported the preparation of the Point Pelee National Park management plan and the later pathological survey. Earlier versions of this recovery strategy, including the field observations, meetings, and report preparation, were supported by the OMNR. Research on hybridization between Red and White Mulberry was conducted by Kevin Burgess at the University of Guelph (Burgess 2004a) under the supervision of Brian Husband and was supported primarily by the Endangered Species Recovery Fund, (sponsored by WWF and Canadian Wildlife Service), as well as OMNR, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, and the University of Guelph Botany Department. Brett Groves, Coordinator, Essex County Stewardship Network, is thanked for his forestry expertise. OMNR's NHIC, Ontario Parks, and Land Information Ontario, the North American Atlas, Parks Canada Agency, Royal Botanical Gardens, Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, Essex Region Conservation Authority, Janas et al. (2001), Conservation Halton, Hamilton Region Conservation Authority, and Gerry Waldron are thanked for their contributions of data layers used to map critical habitat. All of these individuals and supporting agencies are gratefully acknowledged. Finally, special mention should be made to Rebecca Hay and Carrie Mackinnon, both former Species at Risk Biologist Interns with OMNR, Guelph District as well as Vicki McKay, Kim Borg, Ed Paleczny, and Gary Allen of PCA who greatly assisted in addressing numerous and complex edits and reformatting of the document to current formatting standards. Consultation with First Nations on the draft recovery strategy was led by Kim Borg and Aimee Johnson (Parks Canada), and the input from Walpole Island FN and Caldwell FN is greatly appreciated.  Clint Jacobs and Jared Macbeth of Walpole Island First Nation were most helpful in providing comments on the draft recovery strategy, and also provided the textual references on Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Special mention should be made to Rebecca Hay and Carrie Mackinnon, both former Species at Risk Biologist Interns with OMNR, Guelph District as well as Vicki McKay, Kim Borg, Ed Paleczny, and Gary Allen of PCA who greatly assisted in addressing numerous and complex edits and reformatting of the document to current formatting standards. Finally, thanks go to the many people who have commented on drafts of the document.

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