[PCA] Arkansas Native Plant Society: Free Webinar Series in May

Tue Apr 13 11:36:49 CDT 2021

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has proclaimed May 2021 to be "Arkansas Native Plant Month", and to celebrate the Arkansas Native Plant Society is hosting a series of free webinars that will be free and open to the public. To register for any or all of the webinars listed below, email Eric Fuselier at ANPS.President at gmail.com<mailto:ANPS.President at gmail.com>

FREE WEBINAR SERIES

Benevolent Trees: Native Woody Plants in American Herbal Traditions with Steven Foster
Saturday, May 1st, 1-2pm
Program Description: Join Steven Foster on a photographic journey beyond mere plant identification to explore the remarkable human experience in interacting with woody plants for material and medicinal use, as well other ways of looking at our ligneous flora in both American history and contemporary experience.
Speaker Bio: For forty-seven years, Steven Foster, has been fascinated with woody plants as "herbs." A Charter Member of the Arkansas Native Plant Society, Steven is the author and photographer of nineteen books, including most recently the 2014 3rd ed. of the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs (with James A. Duke; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and the National Geographic's A Desk Reference to Nature's Medicine (with Rebecca Johnson).

Mosses: the Original Tree Huggers with Karen Willard
Saturday, May 8th, 1-2pm
Program Description: Mosses were one of the first plants to adapt to life on land, evolving from an ancient group of green algae around 450 million years ago. These plants are small and lack true vascular tissue, yet they have been able to colonize every ecosystem except for the ocean, living where most other plant groups can't. In this program, Karen will explore some of the characteristics that make these plants unique, and will discuss their role in the biological community. The program will conclude with an overview of moss species common to Arkansas.
Speaker Bio: Karen Willard is a contract botanist who has worked for various state agencies, non-profit organizations, and environmental consulting firms. She holds a master's degree in natural resources from the Ohio State University.  Her main research interests include wetland ecology, and plant-insect interactions.

Here Come the Invasivores! Foraging Invasive Species To Help Our Natives with Bo Brown
Wednesday, May 12th, 2-3pm
Program Description: Join Bo Brown, author of Foraging the Ozarks, to learn about some of the tasty non-native and invasive plant species found in Arkansas. You'll learn about methods of preparation, recipes, ethical collection, and ways to prevent the spread of these ecologically harmful species.
Speaker Bio: Bo Brown is a self-taught naturalist who has worked throughout the U.S. and Central America as an avian field biologist since 1985, including a nine-year position as a naturalist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. He is founder and director of First Earth Wilderness School, and has led courses on foraging and nature education throughout the region for the last three decades. Bo's field guide Foraging the Ozarks was released by Falcon Guides in July 2020, and his current project Foraging the Tallgrass Prairie will be available in summer 2023.

Who's On Top? An Overview of the Known Associations Between Plants and Fungi with Jay Justice
Thursday, May 13th, 1-2pm
Program Description: In this presentation, Jay will examine various types of mycorrhizal relationships, as well as other types of fungal-plant associations, including lichens, endophytic fungi, and myco-heterotrophic plants.

Speaker Bio: Jay Justice became enthralled with mushrooms and fungi while pursuing a graduate degree many years ago. In 1980, Jay joined the North American Mycological Association (NAMA), an organization in which he served as the Vice President for many years, and in 1982 he was instrumental in forming the Arkansas Mycological Society. Jay is currently one of the designated chief mycologists for the Missouri Mycological Society, and a scientific advisor for both the Cumberland Mycological Society as well as the Arkansas Mycological Society. Jay is a co-author of Amanitas of North America, which was published in June of 2020.

The Love Life of Ferns with Eric Sundell
Saturday, May 15th, 2-3pm
Program Description: An ancient group of plants, ferns were a dominant presence in the fossils of the Coal Age, some 350 million years ago; and yet they still remain a prominent and competitive group among today's modern flora. But unlike almost all of the modern plants, ferns have no seeds and no flowers. Instead, their life cycle is characterized by spores as well as by two quite different kinds of plants: one that produces those spores (and looks like a fern) and the other, the prothallus, a kind of alter-ego that looks like an alga or maybe a moss, that produces sperm that swim about on the   forest floor hunting for eggs. We'll take a look at the details of this bizarre and intriguing life cycle. We'll also have a quick tour of Arkansas's most common fernly beauties.
Speaker Bio: An Arkansas resident since 1980, Eric taught botany for 26 years at the University of Arkansas-Monticello. Eric is the founder of UAM's Sundell Herbarium, and was a charter member, and past president, of the Arkansas Native Plant Society. More recently, Eric edited the 8th Revised ('Color') Edition of Dwight Moore's Trees of Arkansas, published by the Arkansas Forestry Commission in 2014.

Arkansas's Grasslands: Natural History and Conservation with Theo Witsell
Saturday, May 22nd, 1-2pm
Program Description: While Arkansas is often thought of as a naturally forested landscape, several lines of evidence indicate that millions of acres of grasslands were present at the time of Euro-American settlement.  These grasslands were scattered throughout the state and included tallgrass and blackland prairies, saline barrens, oak and pine savannas and woodlands, sand barrens, riverscour "prairies", big river sandbars, marshes, and a variety of open glade and rock outcrop communities.  These grasslands were disproportionally biologically diverse when compared to more forested matrix communities, and supported many endemic, disjunct, or otherwise rare taxa.  In general, these grasslands have also declined dramatically, with some types experiencing near total loss following 200+ years of Euro-American settlement.  As such, protecting grassland remnants and restoring degraded or converted sites are high priorities.  This presentation will provide an overview of Arkansas' grassland types, highlight some of the characteristic and rare species that depend on them, and discuss their conservation, restoration, and management.
Speaker Bio: Theo Witsell is Ecologist and Chief of Research for the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the Curator of the ANHC Herbarium. He is co-author of Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Arkansas, co-editor of the Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas, and has authored or co-authored more than 30 scientific publications and book chapters. Theo is also the co-founder of, and Chief Ecologist for, the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative, and serves as a regional reviewer for the Flora of North America Project.

Ask the Experts! - Q&A Panel Discussion

May 22nd, 3-4pm
with Theo Witsell, Jennifer Ogle, and Eric Sundell

Program Description: This is your chance to ask the experts questions you have about the native plants of Arkansas. Bring your questions to the live event, or submit them in advance to ANPS.President at gmail.com<mailto:ANPS.President at gmail.com>.

Kind Regards,
Eric Fuselier, President
Arkansas Native Plant Society

Eric Fuselier, PWS
Project Manager | Environmental

[Crafton Tull - Employee Owned]<http://www.craftontull.com/>

Office: 479-636-4838 | Direct: 479-878-2451
901 N. 47th Street, Suite 400
Rogers, AR 72756
www.craftontull.com<http://www.craftontull.com>

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