Field Botany for Natural Resource Professionals PBIO 369 Fall 2011

Catherine A. Paris                  Department of Plant Biology 308 Jeffords Hall                  cparis@uvm.edu                  Office: 656-0426                  Cell: 338-0312

Elizabeth H. Thompson Department of Plant Biology 301 Torrey Hall ehthomps@uvm.edu Office: 656-9571 Cell: 373-7597

Meeting Time and Place (08/31-11/09): Wednesday, 8:30 (9:00 most days) – 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 five 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:

· Understanding of plant form and associated terminology

· Ability to identify plants using the technical literature and appropriate field guides

· Ability to recognize plant families common in the Northeast

· Ability to recognize a set of species that characterize Vermont’s flora

· Ability to prepare a museum-quality plant collection

Community Ecology:

· Understanding of the ecological and historical factors influencing plant distribution worldwide, regionally, and locally

· Ability to discern differences in ecological communities and to describe those in terms of physical features and vegetation

· Ability to recognize several natural communities that characterize northern Vermont

Substrate:

· Basic understanding of plant nutrition

· Basic understanding of the geological history of Vermont as it relates to soil formation and development

· Understanding of postglacial and recent geomorphological processes

· Understanding of how soil texture, moisture, and chemistry influence plant distribution

Course Materials

Texts:

• Magee, D. and H. Ahles. 2007. Flora of the Northeast. University of Massachusetts Press. (Required)
• Newcomb, L. 1977. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown. (Required)
• 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)
• Zomlefer, W.B. 1994. Flowering Plant Families. University of North Carolina Press [ISBN 0807844705] or
• Castner, J. L. 2004. Photographic atlas of botany and guide to plant identification. Feline Press [ISBN 0962515000] (Recommended)

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 3, 6:30 pm, in Room 100, Jeffords Hall. The final exam will be given on Wednesday, November 9, 1 pm, in Room 100, Jeffords Hall.

Plant Collection: An important component of your training in PBIO 369 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 Friday, October 14.

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, November 2.

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 2011

PBIO 369, Field Botany for Natural Resource Professionals

Times	Date	Readings*†
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.	August 31 Field Trip: Gleason Brook, Bolton Natural Communities: Northern Hardwoods Forest Botany Topics: Keying in Newcomb’s 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: Guide to Plant Collecting Castner pp. 1-58
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.	September 7 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.	WWW: 138-141 HO: Liliaceae Castner: xxx-xxx or Zomlefer: 270-282
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m	September 14 Taxonomic Workshop: Asteraceae Field Trip: Williams’ 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 or Zomlefer: 203-211 WWW: 152-154, 174-176
9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.	September 21 Taxonomic Workshop: Cyperaceae & Juncaceae Field Trip: Ethan Allen Homestead, Burlington Natural Communities: Floodplain Forest; Cattail Marsh Substrate topics: alluvial soils; wetland soils	Castner: 282-283 or Zomlefer: 345-350 HO: Sedges WWW: 237-259, 337-346
TBA	September 28 Field Trip: Bliss Pond Cedar Swamp and Chickering Fen, Calais 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 3 Midterm Exam
9 a.m. - 5:30 pm	October 5 Taxonomic Workshop: spore-dispersed vascular plants Field Trip: Smuggler’s Notch, Stowe Natural Communities: Boreal Talus Woodland, Montane Yellow Birch-Red Spruce Forest	Castner: 59-79 HO: Ferns of Vermont HO: Phylogeny of the Seedless Vascular Plants WWW: 119-121, 125-12
9 a.m - 5:30 p.m	October 12 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 or Zomlefer: 350-356 WWW: 24-28; 171-173
	October 14 Plant collections due
8:30 – 6:00 p.m.	October 19 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
9 a.m - 5:30 p.m	October 26 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
8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.	November 2 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 9 Final Exam
Evening, TBA	November 11 Good food and music in Jericho!

*Readings:

WWW = Wetland, Woodland, Wildland

Castner = Photographic Atlas

Zomlefer = Flowering Plant Families

HO = Handout

† - Please read the appropriate pages in Castner or Zomlefer as each new family is introduced