PDT-SoilSc-06 - Identifying Ferns of Northeastern New England

Course Description

6 CEHs for Wetland Scientists | 1.75 CEUs for Surveyors | 3.5 CEUs for Foresters 

This fern identification workshop will teach the skills necessary to positively identify the ferns of northeastern New England. Participants of all experience levels are encouraged to attend.  

A combination of lecture, lab, and field instruction will be used to familiarize participants with this challenging group. Instruction will focus on understanding and recognizing the unique morphology of ferns, basic technical terminology, ecology, reproduction, and identifying species in the field using a fern key. The challenges presented by fern hybridization, and strategies and suggestions for identification within some of the more challenging fern groups will also be discussed.  

The required text for this workshop is Fern Finder: A Guide to Native Ferns of Central and Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada by Hallowell & Hallowell (Nature Study Guild Publishers, 2001, ISBN-10: 0912550244; ISBN-13: 978-0912550244; approx. $5 online).  You are asked to purchase this text from your preferred bookseller and bring it to the workshop along with a hand lens. All other supplies will be provided.