On a research trip in July 1998, Museum staff Jack Dubois (retired), Associate Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology, and Janis Klapecki, Collections Manager, along with volunteers David Wright and Kim Monson, recorded a new species of plant for Manitoba at the mouth of the Broad River, southeast of Churchill.

The area is part of Manitoba’s newest national park, called Wapusk, and the expedition was a cooperative project of Parks Canada and The Manitoba Museum. Warden Jack Batstone was part of the field party, representing Parks Canada.

There had been very little collecting in the new park, as there are no roads going into it. Previous Museum collecting has been done at Churchill and York Factory but none in between where the new park is located. Local habitats were sampled for small mammals and flowering plants. Habitats sampled included small, patchy beach meadows; sedge-meadow tundra in inter-beach ridge swales; and shrubby pond, river and creek margins. Additional plants in flower were recorded and photographed.

Nodding Saxifrage Saxifraga cernua

White Mountain-AvensDryas integrifolia

While going through the plants collected or recorded on our expedition, former Museum botanist (retired) Dr. Karen Johnson confirmed that we had collected thirteen rare species for the province. Of these, eight species are range extensions for the region. One species, Lewis’ wild flax (Linumlewisii) is the second recorded site for Manitoba and one, a fleabane, (Erigeron uniflorus ssp. eriocephalus) is the first known occurrence! Plant specimens have been catalogued into the herbarium at the Museum.

Five species of small mammals were collected: meadow vole, Richardson’s collared lemming, southern red-backed vole, meadow jumping mouse and arctic shrew. Three larger species were observed: polar bear, caribou and wolverine. The collared lemming’s (Dicrostonyxrichardsoni) closest recorded occurrence is at least 60kilometres north. Therefore, the specimens we collected near the mouth of Broad River represent a southern range extension for this species.

Performing this type of research and fieldwork and recording the data into the Museum’s collections registration system, makes this information available to all and adds to our knowledge of the natural heritage of Manitoba.