May 27, 2011
SPECIAL PRESENTATION - Global patterns of biodiversity, climate, and British Columbia Eocene insects
Dr. Bruce Archibald, SFU
Room 123, NWCC, 3966 2nd Avenue
Explanation of large-scale patterns of biodiversity has been somewhat hampered by the general covariance of proposed controlling climatic factors. In the Eocene, however, low temperature seasonality--today mostly restricted to the hot tropics--was decoupled from latitude and mean annual temperature, extending to cooler polar and upland regions. This allows assessment of the relative effects of seasonality and insolation (heat and light input) as is not possible in the modern world. Community assemblages of British Columbia Eocene insects show a linkage between low seasonality and high alpha diversity (i.e., illuminate causes of the latitudinal gradient of species diversity) and high beta diversity across montane landscapes.
Dr. Archibald will also be making a presentation to the Bulkley Valley Naturalists.
Thursday, May 26, 2011, 7:30 pm
Room 123, NWCC, 3966 2nd Avenue
Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park fossils: a marvellous window into the past
Life in the fossil forest preserved at Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park tells us much about the way that the modern natural communities were formed and operate. We can now understand more about how climate affects the diversity of life by comparing modern world patterns with the community that lived some 52 million years ago in its particular ancient climate. Driftwood fossils also allow us to see more clearly how evolution and climate shaped particular lineages, for example, the evolutionary relationship between bats, climate, and the common green lacewing, a familiar insect from your garden.
The following report may be of interest:
The fossils at Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park: A management plan for BC Parks
Prepared by Rolf Ludvigsen, PhD
April 15, 2001