The Jepson Herbarium Public Education Program presents
two campus-based workshops in bryophytes and lichens:
Introduction to Bryophytes
March 6-7, 2010
Brent D. Mishler and Ken Kellman
Location: Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley and East Bay Regional Parks
The bryophytes are a diverse group of land plants of small stature but large ecological impact. There are some 23,000 described species worldwide, making it the largest group of land plants except for the flowering plants. The group includes three phylogenetically distinct lineages: mosses, hornworts, and liverworts. The bryophytes are generally considered a "key" group in our understanding of how the modern land plants (the embryophytes) are related to each other phylogenetically and how they came to conquer the hostile land environment. Although the bryophytes display much species diversity, a major limitation in the use of bryophytes as study organisms has been the lack of basic floristic, ecological, and alpha-taxonomic knowledge of the plants in many regions, of which California and the southwestern United States are the most poorly known in North America.
The first day, participants will learn about basic bryophyte biology, some simple but necessary microtechniques in the lab, and look at the basic structure of bryophytes along with taxonomically useful characteristics. The second day, after a morning lab session, the class will caravan to a field site and learn to identify at least major bryophyte groups and discuss and observe their general ecology and evolutionary features. Participants should be prepared to hike up to 4 miles on Sunday.
Course fee $235/$260
The Genus Racomitrium
April 17-18
David Wagner
Location: Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley and East Bay Regional Parks
The moss genus Racomitrium as traditionally circumscribed is widespread in western North America. It is easily recognized by distinctive leaf and sporophyte characters. Identifying species is, however, notoriously difficult because of extensive variation within species and close similarity among species. Breaking the genus down into smaller genera, as done in the Flora of North America, does not help with species identification. This workshop will emphasize preparing leaf sections for keying using vegetative characters, with special focus on an illustrated HTML key developed by the instructor. Copious practice material will be provided; participants are encouraged to bring their own specimens for supervised keying. Participants are also encouraged to bring their personal laptops for using the HTML keys on the lab bench.
Course fee $235/$260
Contact for both workshops:
Cecile Shohet
Public Education, Coordinator
Jepson Herbarium, UC Berkeley
1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg
Berkeley, CA 94720-24655
phone (510) 643-7008
email cshohet@berkeley.edu
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