The Sixth International Conference on Serpentine Ecology will be held on the campus of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, located on Mount Desert Island on the rocky coast of Maine. The Conference provides an opportunity for the gathering of serpentinophiles from around the world, every 2-4 years, to share and discuss their findings relating to the broad and inter-disciplinary field of serpentine ecology. The first of these conferences was held in 1991 at the University of California, Davis. Subsequent conferences were held in New Caledonia (1995), South Africa (1999), Cuba (2003), and Italy (2006).

Serpentine loosely refers to a broad group of minerals associated with the weathering of ultramafic rocks. Soils associated with such rocks are generally called serpentine soils.These soils often differ from more widespread soils because they are less fertile and have high concentrations of heavy metals. The extreme chemical and physical nature of serpentine soils generates habitats that are extreme yet biologically unique. Topics discussed at the Conference range from botany to geology and illustrate how unusual geologies generate and maintain biodiversity. Participants include botanists, zoologists, ecologists, pedologists, geologists, microbiologists, evolutionary geneticists and conservation biologists. Many attendees work across disciplines to explore the fascinating relationships that exist between extreme habitats and life.

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Mid-Conference Tour

Pine Hill is a former peridotite quarry on Little Deer Isle, Hancock County, Maine. The site was declared a biological preserve in 2006 by the Island Heritage Trust of Deer Isle to protect its distinctive geology and related biota. The quarry was active from c. 1930-1960 and the outcrop is reduced to a half dome with exposed extensive vertical faces of unweathered rock with a southern exposure. The quarry floor is largely serpentinized gravel overlying bedrock with a number of large boulders near the base of the outcrop. Soils collected from various localities of the outcrop show low calcium:magnesium ratios and high concentrations of nickel. The floor has been colonized by mosses, grasses, forbs, and small shrubs, but remains largely barren. The unquarried north, east, and west sides of the outcrop are vegetated by stunted conifers and the top of the outcrop is bare, except for grasses, bryophytes, and soil-dwelling lichens. Dense spruce-pine forest with little understory vegetation surrounds the base of the outcrop. Quarry activities deposited a number of large peridotite boulders in the forest at the base of the outcrop and along the access road, providing serpentine substrates in deep shade. Soils on the site range from coarse gravel at the quarry floor, to humus and organic debris along the three sides of the outcrop, and sandy loam at the top of the outcrop. Ephemeral freshwater seeps are scattered through the outcrop, especially along the western ridge, creating moist microhabitats, especially suited for lichens, bryophytes, and ferns in an otherwise arid environment. We will compare the vegetation - vascular plants (pdf-51k), bryophytes (pdf-19k), lichens (pdf-374k) - of the site to Settlement Quarry, a granite quarry found on adjacent Deer Isle, Maine. The field trip will be led by Nishanta Rajakaruna and Arthur Haines (vascular plants), Roger & Ann Hooke and Douglas Reusch (geology), and Fred Olday (bryophytes and lichens).

Post-Conference Tour
Mount Albert (1154 m) forms part of the Chic-Choc Mountains, an upheaval of the Appalachian Plateau and is situated in Gaspésian Provincial Park, Québec, Canada. The areas to be visited are formed of serpentinized periodite, harzburgite and dunite of the Ordovician Period. The serpentine plateau is mainly covered by regosolic soils influenced by cryoturbation and low plant cover including vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens (pdf-1.5 meg). About 10% of Mount Albert's flora are serpentine-associated, with Lychnis alpina and Armeria maritima subsp. sibirica exhibiting the southern limit of their distribution in North America. The bryophyte Rhacomitrium lanuginosum association is a prominent feature in exposed locations. Although it is 350m higher in elevation, Mount Albert shows many comparisons to the serpentinized areas from Newfoundland. The field trip will be led by Luc Sirois and Bruce Roberts, with assistance from botanist Geoffrey Hall and naturalists from the Park.

We are considering two hiking options for Mount Albert; a rigorous hike and a leisurely stroll for those preferring a less-demanding option.

The main hike up to the serpentine plateau on Mount Albert is 5.6 km long, going from 700 to 1054 m of altitude. It is a quite demanding walk, generally done within 2 hours by moderately fit hikers (total trip can be 4-6 hours). There will likely be snow in the final segment of the trail reaching the summit, while at the plateau, it will be close to peak flowering of the alpine tundra.

Those who prefer a less rigorous hike can choose the Olivine Mountain or Mont Ernest-Laforce. Since we have two days, delegates can make both or one of those trips and possibly another hike to the summit in the metamorphic McGerrigle Range or the granito-gneissic Mount Jacques Cartier nearby. On both Mount Albert and Mount Jacques Cartier, we are likely to see some caribou of the Gaspé's threatened herd.

The weather at this time will obviously guide our options.

Please bring appropriate clothing for the hikes, including hiking/walking shoes, windbreaker jacket, gloves, wool cap/ski cap. The temperature for the region in June can be variable with highs reaching 25ºC and the lows under 10ºC.

Please contact Luc Sirois (Luc_Sirois@UQAR.QC.CA) for further information.

Nishanta Rajakaruna - Professor of Botany, College of the Atlantic

Ted Koffman - Director of Government Relations and Summer Programs, College of the Atlantic

Jean T Sylvia - Assistant Director of Summer Programs and Conference Secretary

Suzanne Morse - Professor of Botany, College of the Atlantic

Bruce Roberts - Forest Site Ecologist, Canadian Forest Service, Canada

Luc Sirois - Département de Biologie, Université du Québec, Canada

All correspondence: Jean T. Sylvia

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Dr. Alan Baker - School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Dr. Robert Boyd - Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

Dr. Alessandro Chiarucchi - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali 'G. Sarfatti', Universitæamp;#402; degli Studi di Siena, Italy

Dr. Susan Harrison - Division of Environmental Studies, The University of California, Davis, CA, USA

Dr. Roger Reeves - School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Dr. Nishanta Rajakaruna - College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA

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USEFUL LINKS

Driving Directions to College of the Atlantic

Accommodation in and around Bar Harbor, Maine

Acadia National Park

Restaurants in and around Bar Harbor, Maine

Bar Harbor Airport

Bangor International Airport

Logan-Bangor Ground Transportation