Field Botany
for Natural Resource Professionals
Plant Bio 369
- Fall 2010
Catherine A. Paris Elizabeth H. Thompson
Department of Plant Biology
Department
of Plant Biology
Jeffords Hall Rm. 308 301 Torrey Hall
cparis@uvm.edu ehthomps@uvm.edu
Office: 656-0426 Office: 656-9571
Cell: 338-0312 Cell (urgent matters only): 373-7597
Meeting Time and Place (09/01-11/03): Wednesday, 8:30 (9:00 most days) Ð 5:30, Room 100 James M. Jeffords Hall
Course Description and Objectives
This course, designed for graduate students in the life sciences and natural resources, has three principal objectives: 1) to provide students with the tools needed to identify plants anywhere; 2) to help students hone their observational skills related to plants; 3) to provide students with an intensive, hands-on introduction to the flora of the Northeast; 4) to provide some of the skills needed to observe and make sense of patterns of plant distribution; and, more specifically, to 5) explore the relationship between substrate and plant distribution. With these general objectives in mind, we expect students to gain the following knowledge and skills:
Flora:
á Understanding of plant form and associated terminology
á Ability to identify plants using the technical literature and appropriate field guides
á Ability to recognize plant families common in the Northeast
á Ability to recognize a set of species that characterize VermontÕs flora
á Ability to prepare a museum-quality plant collection
Community
Ecology:
á Understanding of the ecological and historical factors influencing plant distribution worldwide, regionally, and locally
á Ability to discern differences in ecological communities and to describe those in terms of physical features and vegetation
á Ability to recognize several natural communities that characterize northern Vermont
Substrate:
á Basic understanding of plant nutrition
á Basic understanding of the geological history of Vermont as it relates to soil formation and development
á Understanding of postglacial and recent geomorphological processes
á Understanding of how soil texture, moisture, and chemistry influence plant distribution
Course Materials
Texts:
á Newcomb, L. 1977. NewcombÕs Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown. (Required)
á Castner, J. L. 2004. Photographic Atlas of Botany and Guide to Plant Identification. Feline Press. (Recommended)
á Thompson, E.H. and E.R. Sorenson. 2000. Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A Guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont. University Press of New England. (Required)
Equipment: Plant press (you put this together
yourself), 10X
hand lens, mm ruler, waterproof field notebook, pocketknife
Exams: A mid-term exam is scheduled for Monday,
October
4,
6:30
pm,
in Room 100,
Jeffords
Hall. The final exam will be given on Wednesday, November 3,
1 pm, in Room 100, Jeffords Hall.
Plant
Collection: An important
component of your
training in Plant Bio 295 is the preparation of a museum-quality plant
collection. The collection is to include herbaceous native plants, in
flower or
fruit, representing 15 different plant families. Specimens must be
correctly
identified, completely labeled, and attractively mounted. The
collection is due
on Wednesday, November 10.
Site
Presentation: Each student,
participating as a member of a small
team, will present a site designated by the instructors to the rest of
the
class. Sites will be located
within the boundaries of Camp Johnson Military Installation, Colchester. Presentations should be about two hours
long, and should touch on important aspects of the geology, soils, and
vegetation of the site, as well as land use history, ownership, and
pertinent
conservation issues. Presentations will be given on the last
field day, Wednesday,
October 27.
Grading
Field Quizzes (app.
one per class
meeting)
35%
Mid-term
exam
10%
Final exam
15%
Plant
Collection
20%
Site
Presentation
20%
Tentative Lab Schedule, Fall 2010
Plant Biology 369, Field Botany for Natural Resource
Professionals
|
Times |
Date |
Readings* |
|
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. |
September 1 Field Trip: Gleason Brook, Bolton Natural Communities: Northern Hardwoods Forest Substrate Topics: Introduction to soil science |
WWW:
1-19, 22-23, 36-39, 58-75, 78-103, 129-137 HO:
Chapter 1, Brady & Weil HO:
Plants to know in the woods HO:
Liliaceae HO:
Guide to Plant Collecting |
|
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. |
September 8 Taxonomic Workshop: orientation to flowering
plant structure; keying in M&A Field Trip: Gleason Brook, Bolton Natural Communities: Rich Northern Hardwood Forest Substrate Topics: Soil science, cont. |
Castner
pp. 1-58 WWW:
138-141 |
|
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m |
September 15 Taxonomic Workshop: Asteraceae Field Trip: WilliamsÕ Woods, Charlotte Natural Communities: Valley Clayplain Forest Substrate topics: Postglacial history of the
Champlain Basin, clay soils, cation exchange capacity, more on pH |
Castner:
245-249 WWW:
152-154, 174-176 |
|
9 a.m. Ð 5:30 p.m. |
September 22 Taxonomic Workshop: Cyperaceae Field Trip: Ethan Allen Homestead,
Burlington Natural Communities: Floodplain Forest; Cattail
Marsh Substrate topics: alluvial soils; wetland soils |
Castner:
282-283 HO:
Sedges WWW:
237-259, 337-346 |
|
TBA |
September 29 Field Trip: Bliss Pond Cedar Swamp and
Chickering Fen, Calais (all day trip) Natural Communities: Rich fen; Northern White
Cedar Swamp Substrate topics: organic wetland soils, pH,
groundwater |
WWW: 44-47,
287-292, 309-313, 327-336 |
|
6:30 p.m. |
October 4 Midterm Exam |
|
|
9 a.m. - 5:30 pm |
October 6 Taxonomic Workshop: Families too good to be
forgotten Field Trip: Rock Point, Burlington Natural Communities: Red Pine Forest; Limestone
Bluff Cedar-Pine Forest |
WWW: 155-157; 160-162 |
|
9 a.m - 5:30 p.m |
October 13 Taxonomic Workshop: Poaceae Field Trip: Niquette Bay State Park Natural Communities: Transition
Hardwoods Limestone Forest; Mesic Maple Ash Oak Hickory Forest Substrate Topics: Shallow-to-bedrock
calcareous soils |
Castner:
284-285 WWW:
24-28; 171-173 |
|
9 a.m - 5:30 p.m |
October 20 Taxonomic Workshop: spore-dispersed vascular
plants Field Trip: SmugglerÕs Notch, Stowe Natural Communities: Boreal Talus Woodland,
Montane Yellow Birch-Red Spruce Forest |
HO:
Ferns of Vermont HO:
Phylogeny of the Seedless Vascular Plants WWW:
119-121, 125-126 |
|
8:30 Ð 6:00 p.m. |
October 27 Field Trip: Alburg Dunes State Park Natural Communities: Black Spruce Swamp; Black
Spruce Woodland Bog; Lakeshore Sand Beach Substrate Topics: peat, human disturbances in
wetlands; sand beach formation, lakeshore dynamics |
WWW:
203-208, 296-298, 318-320 |
|
8:30 a.m. Ð 5:30 p.m. |
November 3 Student Presentations Field Trip: Camp Johnson, Colchester Natural Communities: Pine-Oak-Heath Sandplain
Forest; White Pine-Red Oak-Black Oak Forest Substrate topics: Postglacial history of the
Champlain Basin; coarse-textured soils |
WWW:
177-183 |
|
1-4:00 p.m. |
November 10 Final Exam |
|
|
|
November 17 Plant collections due |
|
*Readings:
WWW = Wetland,
Woodland, Wildland
Castner
=
Photographic
Atlas
HO = Handout
- Please read the
appropriate
pages in Castner as each new family is introduced