Hiawatha Botanical Workshops

Hiawatha National Forest - USDA Forest Service

Purpose Workshops Calendar Registration Form Contact Announcements

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Purpose

The Hiawatha National Forest started hosting botanical workshops in 1990, addressing the local area training needs. Workshop topics change every year, depending on emerging issues or requests. Nationally recognized experts join us for two and a half (2.5) days of 'hands on' interactive learning.

We will confirm your registration, provide directions to Clear Lake Camp, and other information once enrollment is finalized. Hope you can make it! Two workshops are being offered for FY2001.

• Boreal Flora
• Bryophytes - Moss and Liverwort Collection & Identification
• Plant ID & Collecting: Techniques, Pitfalls & Shortcuts
  

In The Future...

We are looking to the future of our botanical workshops program - and to FY2002. The dates and topics are not yet determined for next year. What do you want to learn about next year? Please contact us. The Hiawatha Botanical Workshops focus on specific botanical families, species, or methods of current concern. The topics change every year - unless we receive significant 'encore' requests. Past workshop topics include:

• Grasses & Sedges
• Compositae
• Aquatic plants
• Lichen

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Workshops

Location: All the workshops take place at Camp Clear Lake. Camp Clear Lake is located approximately 22 miles southeast of Munising, Michigan. The facilities are rustic, but comfortable. Students will need to provide their own sleeping bag, pillow, and towel. Meals and snacks will be provided during the workshop.

Teaching Methods: Field observing and identifying plants of the Hiawatha National Forest, classroom lecture and herbarium sample study. Most activity is primarily in the field.

Calendar

Workshop	FY2002	FY2003
BOREAL FLORA	July 9-11	TBA
BRYOPHYTE	TBA	TBA
PLANT ID & COLLECTING: Techniques, Pitfalls & Shortcuts	TBA	TBA

Boreal Flora

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Instructor: Dr. Ed Voss, Professor Emeritus of Botany, University of Michigan

Particulars: Arrive at camp late afternoon, Monday, July 8th. Dinner served at 6:00 pm. Class will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end around 5:00 p.m. each of the following three (3) days. The three-day course will be spent in the field within the Hiawatha National Forest as well as some lecture and herbarium study in the classroom.

Registration: The cost of the workshop is $300 per student. This fee will fund instruction and instructional materials, food, lodging, and transportation while at camp. The session is limited to 25 students. Due to the interest in the course expressed by several agencies, we will enroll the first two people per agency registering and paying (via job code or check) by April 1, 2002. After this time, we will offer the course to alternates on a first-come first-serve basis until the session is full. All registration after May 1, 2002 is final and non-refundable. See "Registration" to sign up.

Credit: Contact Jan Schultz for information.

Objectives & Description: This course will emphasize field recognition of native plant species and natural communities, with some stress on rare or otherwise interesting ones (e.g., species listed as threatened or of special concern, disjuncts from western North America, outliers of more northern species, etc.). Field trips will include the northern shore of Lake Michigan, peatlands, the south shore of Lake Superior (Grand Sable Dunes and elsewhere), and Tahquamenon Falls. Persons with some previous experience (at least with common plant species) will doubtless have the greatest appreciation for the specialties to be seen, for there will be no general review of plant morphology, families, keying techniques, etc.

Details: Trips leave each day at 8:00 a.m. (preceded by breakfast and packing of lunch). Dinner Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday will be at Clear Lake; on Wednesday it will be a cookout. There will be an evening session, with slides, Tuesday in the classroom.

What to bring:

Necessities

• sleeping bag, pillow, and towel
• Folder to collect handouts and notes

Workshop Coordinator: Jan Schultz

	FY2002	FY2003
Dates:	July 9 - 11, 2002	TBA
Status:	OPEN	TBA
Location:	Camp Clear Lake, MI	Camp Clear Lake, MI
Tuition:	$300*

* See "REGISTRATION" for details on what is included in the cost of tuition.

Bryophyte

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Instructor: Dr. Joannes A. Janssens, Science Museum of Minnesota

Particulars: Arrive at camp late afternoon, Monday, August 13th. Dinner served at 6:00 pm. Workshop runs from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each of the following two (2) days.

Credit: Upon successful completion of this workshop you are qualified to apply 16 CFE contact hours in category 2 towards a Society of American Foresters Continuing Forestry Education Certificate. Jan Schultz will provide the appropriate forms at the workshop.

Objectives & Description: Students will learn Bryophyte (moss and liverwort) collection and identification, with an outline of bryophyte autecology, survey techniques, and monitoring. Teaching methods use a mixture of classroom, laboratory and field exercises using local area species as examples.

Describe the group, Bryophyte

Outline the distinctive ecology our most common species, and present examples of their niche differentiation and their usefulnes as tools for rare and sensitive-plant surveys, short-term monitoring and long-term monitoring.

Explain structural differentiation (morphology) of the major groups of mosses and liverworts.

Prepare collections for identification and working through keys.

Demonstrate survey techniques and monitoring methods

Details: During a brief lecture on Tuesday morning, Dr. Janssens will introduce this group of intriguing and frequently overlooked organisms. Dr. Janssens will outline the distinctive ecology of our most common species, and present examples of their niche differentiation and their usefulness as tools for rare and sensitive-plant surveys, short-term monitoring and long-term monitoring.

Immediately after this brief lecture, visit a number of distinctive bryophyte habitats in the area surrounding Clear Lake, concentrating on the structural differentiation (morphology) of the major groups of mosses and liverworts. You will be able to collect some material of a few representatives in each one of these groups, which can be examined during the afternoon lab session. We will not, at first, concentrate on the differentiation of individual species, but rather, learn to observe the major distinctive characters in the field.

The afternoon lab session on Tuesday will be preceded by a brief lecture on use of keys and standard refernce works. Dr. Janssens will provide information on other sources of specialized information, herbaria, and available experts in the handouts. As an introduction to the lab work, a brief overview of the major groups of mosses and liverworts we encounter during the morning field trip will be given. The lab will allow hands-on experience with the various techniques of preparing collections for identification and working through keys. The session can stretch into the evening, with additional instruciton in specialized techniques for individual groups of bryophytes for those interested.

Wednesday morning, during a brief lecture, Dr. Janssens will put the species identified into their phylogenetic framework and introduce the distinctions among some of the most important individual species and higher taxa, such as genera and families. The field trip immediately following will concentrate on the major species occuring in the forests and wetlands of the Great Lakes region. Further material can be collected for use in the afternoon lab. Additional material of all the common species in the Great Lakes region will be provided. Arrangements can be made for those who would like to acquire properly identified reference material.

What to bring:

Necessities

Optional

Crum, H.A. 1983. Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest. 3rd. ed. University of Michigan Herbarium. 417 pp.

Crum, H.A. 1984. Sphagnopsida, Sphagnaceae, in North American Flora, Series II, Part 11. The New York Botanical Garden. 180 pp.

Crum, H.A. and L.E. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. Columbia Unviersity Press, New York. 2 volumes, 1328 pp.

Flowers, S. 1973. Mosses: Utah and the West. Brigham Young University Press. Provo, Utah. 567 pp.

Ireland, R.R. 1982. Moss Flora of the Maritime Provinces. National Museums of Canada. Publications in Botany, No. 13. 738 pp.

Schofield, W.B. 1985 Introduction to Bryology. MacMillian Pub. Co., New York. 431 pp.

Schuster, R.M. 1977 (1958). Boreal Hepaticae, a manual of the liverworts of Minnesota and adjacent regions. American Midland Naturalist 49: 257-684 and republished as Bryophytorum Bibliotheca by J. Cramer, Band 11.

Workshop Coordinator: Jan Schultz

	FY2002	FY2003
Dates:	TBA	TBA
Status:	TBA	TBA
Location:	Camp Clear Lake, MI	Camp Clear Lake, MI
Tuition:	$300*	$300*

* See "REGISTRATION" for details on what is included in the cost of tuition.

 

PLANT IDENTIFICATION & COLLECTING: Techniques, Pitfalls & Shortcuts

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Instructor: Dr. Edward Voss, Professor Emeritus of Botany, University of Michigan

Particulars: Arrive at camp late afternoon, Monday, July 9th. Supper served at 6:00 pm. Workshop runs from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each of the following two and a half (2.5) days. Ends at Noon on July 12th.

Credit: Upon successful completion of this workshop you are qualified to apply 16 CFE contact hours in category 2 towards a Society of American Foresters Continuing Forestry Education Certificate. Jan Schultz will provide the appropriate forms at the workshop.

Objectives: Using the local available flora (native and weedy), looking at several practical aspects of plant identification, promoting efficient and effective use of field and laboratory time.

Philosophy and use of keys: when keys don't work (absence of required parts, ambiguity, etc.); what to do if something seems to not be in the key (or book).

Consulting other sources; finding specialists and expectations (your's and the specialist's); how big herbaria operate, including organizing data and identification services.

Changing names - mysteries of nomenclature.

Making good specimens and field notes - writing useful labels (locality, habitat, notes) for documentation, future reference, or obtaining specialist opinion. Being observant!

Recognizing plant diversity in the field: within species, within families, or within a study area.

What to bring: Students will find the following helpful and should bring them.

An appropriate identification manual (or more than one) suitable for Michigan. For example:

Gleason & Cronquist, Manual of Vascular Plants (ed. 2, 1991)

Voss, Michigan Flora (all 3 parts: 1972, 1985, 1996)

Rabeler's Gleason's Plants of Michigan (1998--corrected printing due in 2000). Especially recommended as a compact paperback.

[List price for last 2 items totals only $62-$65]

A good hand lens. 10x or 12x, fastened to a cord for secure placing around your neck to avoid loss! One with a 'mm' rule engraved on the frame is very useful--or carry a separate rule.

Basic collecting equipment:

plant press,

small digging tool,

vasulum or plastic bags (old bread wrappers with ties are fine) to hold fresh specimens.

If you plan to bring specimens back for indoor examination: dissecting needles, single-edge razor blade, forceps (or scalpel) and 'mm' rule are an improvement over sharp pencils and fingernails. Bring dissecting microscope if you have one (with light).

Workshop Coordinator: Jan Schultz

	FY2002	FY2003
Dates:	TBA	TBA
Status:	TBA	TBA
Location:	Camp Clear Lake, MI	Camp Clear Lake, MI
Tuition:	$300*	$300*

* See "REGISTRATION" for details on what is included in the cost of tuition.

Registration - REGISTRATION FORM (rtf - download)

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Workshops are open to botanical professionals. To register for a workshop please complete the form and send with payment. Confirmed participants will be contacted with additional workshop information.

The workshops are limited to 25 students. Due to the interest expressed by several agencies, we will enroll the first two people to register from each agency. Additional registrants will be alternates. It is important to register and pay (via job code or check) by April 1 (of each year). After this time, openings are offered on a 'first-come, first-serve' basis until the workshop is full. All registration after May 30 (of each year) is final and non-refundable.

Fees You Can Afford...Workshop tuition is $300 (FY2002) per student. Tuition includes instruction, instructional materials, food, lodging, snacks, behind the scenes development, conference room rentals, and transportation while at the camp. Again, by the end of May, all registration is final and non-refundable.

Registration requires a completed registration form and payment.

Payment:

Forest Service - Job Code and Forest ID

Others - Check payable to 'USDA Forest Service'

Send Registration form and payment to:

Pat Scheuren

Hiawatha National Forest

2727 North Lincoln Road

Escanaba, MI 49829

Email: pscheuren@fs.fed.us

Phone: 906-789-3353

Contact for workshop content

Jan Schultz

Marquette Interagency Conservation Center

1030 Wright Street

Marquette, MI 49855

Email: jschultz@fs.fed.us

Phone: 906-228-8491

Fax: 906-228-4484

Announcements

Workshop or programmatic announcements will be posted here. Additionally, notes will be sent out to registered participants via email.