Climbing prairie rose (Rosa setigera) COSEWIC assessment and status report addendum: chapter 15

Biographical summary of author, Authorities consulted and Collections examined

Biographical summary of author

John Ambrose came to the University of Guelph Arboretum in 1974, after receiving a PhD in Botany from Cornell University. At the Arboretum, in addition to being the Curator, he developed a program based on the rare woody plants of the Carolinian Zone of southern Ontario, including field surveys, status reports and detailed studies of their population and reproductive biology. After 17 years there, he moved to the Toronto Zoo as Curator of Botany/Manager of Horticulture. There he developed new natural habitat exhibits and a naturalization program for peripheral lands of the site, in addition to his exhibit responsibilities. These reflect his growing interest in restoration ecology. In 1999 he left the Zoo to teach a new course in restoration ecology at the University of Guelph. He currently is self-employed and continues to work with endangered species recovery planning, serving on three recovery teams for Carolinian trees.

Authorities consulted

Mike Oldham of the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) was contacted for information on file for this species. Paul Pratt provided information of recent sightings at Ojibway Park and Prairie and nearby natural areas, as well as a summary of the 1992 Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) report on natural areas of Windsor. Gerry Waldron provided information on recent sightings in Essex County.

Collections examined

With good data on collection and site records from the updated element occurrence reports of the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC, 2000) and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) status report (Ambrose, 1986), researching time was concentrated on going to representative sites, concentrating on those for which there was good base data on population abundance. Population densities, reproduction and observation of local threats were compared with those recorded earlier. Observations were not made for 18 NHIC element occurrence reports and the 1992 ERCA report for Windsor (15 sub-sites), the latter received after the field work was completed. About 43 person-hours were spent in the field for updating the status of this species.

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