Field Techniques | NYFA

Leafsnap iPhone/iPod Touch App for Identifying Trees

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 18:06:22 +0000

Many years in development, the leaf identification app Leafsnap is finally available for the iPhone and iPod touch with camera and wifi connection. It will be interesting to see how it will be integrated into dendrology and other flora classes. See the YouTube video below to see how it works. Are the graminoids next?

Find a Location on Bing, Google and USGS Topo Maps Using UTM, Lat-Long or MTM (Canada)

admin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:03:30 +0000

If you want to enter GPS coordinates in web-based maps it can be a hassle to convert the coordinate systems depending on how you record them. There is a great website that does it for you and with one click will go to the web map you want. It is called leware.net and can be found at . For a UTM set of coordinates, for example, just fill in the yellow boxes with zone 18T and hit the display button. It will take you directly to your location on the map, even in Bing Birds-eye view. This is a very simple and handy tool that I use all the time now to find locations that I record on my GPS. – Steve Young

A sample of page 1 of the website.

Collecting Milkweed Seed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

admin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:15:27 +0000

Here is a video that features Dr. Gerry Moore demonstrating how they collect seed and press plants at the garden.

Upcoming bryology workshops

admin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:37:12 +0000

There are three upcoming bryological courses and excursions this spring! They’re not being held in our region, but many bryophytes are quite cosmopolitan so it’s likely that you’d encounter species that occur in 91��Ƭ��. Certainly the lab skills and camaraderie would be worth the trip.

Intermediate Bryology will be offered by Dr. David Wagner on the University of Oregon campus on March 21-23. The objective of this workshop will be a fairly intensive practice using the contemporary keys pertinent to the area. Most of the time will be spent in the teaching lab, with an afternoon excursion on the first day for field experience. Time will be available for participants who bring personal collections to work on them under expert supervision. Tuition is $300. Contact Dr. Wagner for more information (541-344-3327 / davidwagner@mac.com).

The 16th Annual SO BE FREE foray will be held in the lower elevations of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains near Quincy, California on March 23-26. The area offers great sites for montane coniferous, mixed coniferous-hardwood forests; canyon oak forests; rocky outcrops; and chaparral, all in the steep North Fork of the Feather River canyon. There will be flat trails and roadside areas to visit for easy access. Bryophyte diversity will span from California’s spring ephemerals, bryophytes of springs, streamlets, and rivers to the great diversity found on rocky outcrops. Beginning bryologists are welcome, and they are planning some special activities for beginners, as well as serious fieldtrips that will be exciting for the hard-core. for more info.

An Introduction to Bryophytes will be offered by Dr. Stephen Timme in the botany lab on the Pittsburg (Kansas) State University campus on April 2-3. It is designed to provide an introduction to basic characteristics and techniques for identification of some of the more common species found in the prairie, oak/hickory forests, and rock outcrops in the central U.S. Techniques will include the proper use of the microscope, free-hand sections, terminology, and making semi-permanent mounts. The workshop will be topped off with a field trip. Contact Dr. Timme for more information (417-658-5473 / slt@pittstate.edu).

Smartphone App for Tracking Invasive Species

admin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:25:31 +0000

Learn about the new apps being developed to track invasive species. The 91��Ƭ�� iMap program is developing one for 91��Ƭ��.

Center for Plant Conservation Reintroduction Registry

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:48:36 +0000

In October of 2009 the hosted a conference on evaluating plant reintroductions. As a result they established a to enter and view projects that have reintroduced native plants into known or new habitats. There is an example of one 91��Ƭ�� State orchid, Prairie Fringed Orchid, Platanthera leucophaea, that was reintroduced into a restored prairie. Maybe you have an example of a plant reintroduction that you could share with others on this site.

USA Topographic Map from ESRI on the Web

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:38:12 +0000

If you would like another option for looking at topo maps of 91��Ƭ�� or other places in the US you can use this new map from ESRI on Arcgis.com. If you click on Basemaps on the top of the map you can look at different maps including aerials and USGS maps. Its very helpful when planning botany trips. Go to the map .

Sample Map

The Decline of Newpapers and Pressing Plants

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:19:36 +0000

An unintended consequence of the decline of the newspaper business (our local newspaper is getting really thin now) is the loss of newsprint to press plants. Maybe we should press them between iPads! Any other suggestions? (an iPress?) – Steve Young

Botanist Using Apple iPad In The Field

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:14:59 +0000

Below is a photo of botanist David Werier using his iPad in the field to look at plant manuals he has stored on it. David says it saves him a lot of weight and he can carry many references that would have been impossible to bring in the field in the past. It has a protective case and a clear plastic cover over the glass. We were puzzling over a plant in a gorge in the Finger Lakes and it only took a few seconds for David to find the key characters in a manual he has stored on it. He doesn’t use it to enter data and he hasn’t dropped it in the water yet! – Steve Young

Martin Jetpack a Boon to Botanists?

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:47:44 +0000

There have been many times in the field when I have seen botanists look across a large marsh or up a high cliff and say, “I wish I had a jetpack to fly out there and take a look.” Well, the day has come and the first commercially available jetpack, the Martin Jetpack, will be on sale soon. Who needs a drone when you can fly out there and look yourself! To see a demonstration of the jetpack .