Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis). Photo by John Howard.

Ferns and Fern Allies
of the Eastern Heartland Forest
July 30-August 3, 2012

Introduction

Ferns and fern allies are one of the most attractive plant groups belonging to America’s Eastern Deciduous Forest. Yet most nature-lovers, teachers and conservationists have more trouble learning them, at least from books, than they do the more complex plants.

Because ecological knowledge and conservation stewardship rests on the foundation of plant recognition, it behooves us to find expert teachers in the subject, and immerse ourselves in field experiences. Once ferns and their allies are recognized on the species level, a meaningful life-long process of studying species relationships in various forest ecosystems can commence.

We are proud to have found two expert botanists to serve as able mentors in this very process. In this course we will be exploring the ferns and fern allies of the Appalachian heartland forests typical of the Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania greater region. For the purposes of this course, we will be studying what we most of us think of as traditional ferns, as well as club mosses (Lycopodiums), spike-mosses (Selaginellids), quillworts (Isoëtacids), and horsetails (Equisetums). In the tri-state area, there are over 105 species of these ferns and fern allies. During this course we expect to find, and will learn to recognize, approximately 50 species. If you live other than in the heartland of America’s Eastern Hardwood Forest, the recognition skills that you learn in this course, as well as a proportion of its species, are transferable to many other forest locations in the East.

There is a secondary and important benefit to learning the ferns and their allies. In the task of searching out a wide diversity of species, the quest naturally leads into some of the Eastern Forest’s most beautiful wilderness areas, including shady cove forests, exposed sandstone cliffs, alkaline limestone bluffs, river birch flats, rhododendron-hemlock forests, perched springs and seeps on Appalachian hillsides, and lowland swamps and wetlands.

Wood fern in sunlight.

What will you take away from this course?

• Become acquainted with the recognition, ecological niches, and natural history of approximately 50 ferns and fern allies native to the Eastern Forest heartland.
• Permanently learn to identify 25-30 species new to the student’s knowledge base that they possessed coming into the course.
• Be exposed to many interpretive stories of ferns and fern allies that can be remembered and retold for educational purposes.
• Explore and learn about the larger ecosystems in which fern and fern allies find their respective niches in the context of holistic curriculum and field experiences.
• Learn to recognize the plant assemblages, both ferns and seed-bearing plants, that have adapted to a large variety of Eastern Forest ecosystems and forest types.
• Learn the geologic processes and primary bedrocks immediately west of the central Appalachian Mountains, and the importance of geology in creating fern habitats.
• Study the evolutionary story of ferns and their allies; their world significance, diversity, and distribution.
• Be taught basic fern and fern ally identification skills that can be usefully applied when identifying ferns and fern allies in other regions of the world.

Who is the Course Designed For?

Teachers, nature enthusiasts, naturalists, professors, outdoor educators, biologists, adventurers, home school parents, and students of biodiversity. No previous experience necessary except an undying curiosity about the natural world. This is an excellent opportunity for deep, holistic, field-oriented cross-disciplinary education.