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Upcoming Eagle Hill Online Mini-Seminar An Overview of The Quillworts: Identification, Ecology, and Evolution Instructor: Dr. Peter Schafran Dat
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Upcoming Eagle Hill Online Mini-Seminar |
An Overview of The Quillworts: Identification, Ecology, and Evolution
Instructor: Dr. Peter Schafran
Dates: March 25th – April 3rd, 2024
Time: 7 PM – 9 PM ET
Scheduling Details: March 25, 27, 29 and April 1, 3
Tuition Cost: $225
Description: Quillworts were once described as the least studied group of vascular plants. This may no longer be true, but there is still much to learn about the roughly 300 species in the enigmatic, aquatic lycophyte genus Isoetes. Though physically these plants have changed little since the Jurassic, recent evidence suggests most current species have evolved recently, adapting to almost every possible freshwater niche – from wet prairies to rock outcrop pools to deep oligotrophic lakes. This course will provide an introduction to quillwort biology, ecology, systematics, and genomics – covering topics for the field botanist to molecular systematist. We’ll cover the history of Isoetology (the study of quillworts), with a emphasis on anatomy and morphology that are crucial for using identification keys. Next, we’ll focus on quillwort ecology, examining how different species grow in an incredible wide range of habitats. This will include a review of the recently published Isoetes genome and the role of CAM photosynthesis in aquatic environments. Much of the newest quillwort literature focuses on relationships between species, so we will concentrate on revelations from next generation sequencing and highthroughput cytometry that have drastically changed our understanding of how many quillwort species exist, where they occur, and the role of polyploidy in their evolution. Finally, we’ll try to synthesize these aspects of quillworts to understand their present distribution, threats, and methods for conservation. |
• Full, color flyer for this seminar is available here.
• Participants need to have a Zoom account (https://zoom.us ; sign-up is free). They will receive a secure link to join the seminar before it begins.
• Individual classes will be recorded and made available to stream (not download) for the duration of the seminar by its participants, so they are able to review them or make up missed ones. |
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Eagle Hill Institute | 59 Eagle Hill Road, Steuben, ME 04680
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