The Maryland Native Plant Society

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  • MNPS 2007 Annual Fall Conference, "Climate Change: Global Effects, Local Impacts: Western Maryland's Flora - At Risk?"

MNPS 2007 Annual Fall Conference, "Climate Change: Global Effects, Local Impacts: Western Maryland's Flora - At Risk?"

  • 09/29/2007
  • 09/30/2007
  • Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD

Climate Change: Global Effects, Local Impacts
Western Maryland's Flora - At Risk?

Co-sponsored by
Department of Biology
Frostburg State University
with support from The Nature Conservancy
226 Compton Hall
Frostburg, MD

The geology and climate of Maryland’s three western counties, Washington, Allegany and Garrett, support unique botanical resources. The Appalachian Plateau covers all of Garrett County and extreme western Allegany County. The Valley and Ridge province covers most of Allegany and Washington County while the Blue Ridge province covers the extreme eastern part of Washington County. The region contains shale barrens, limestone ridges, peatlands and mountain bogs. At the end of the last Ice Age, the cold-adapted plants migrated back north, remaining only in “frost pockets” such as exist in the Appalachian Plateau. The “frost pockets” of western Maryland support relict populations of sub-arctic flora, including tamarack, wild calla, Canadian burnet, red spruce, small cranberry and bog fern. Join us as we learn from expert botanists and ecologists how the western Maryland forests, bogs and shrub swamps are recovering from decades of logging and how they are likely to fare as the climate warms. Field trips to mountaintops, bogs and protected coves will acquaint us with the full range of western Maryland’s special flora.

Download the 2007 Fall Conference Brochure (PDF, ~62KB)

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Schedule of Planned Activities
Time Activity
8:30am Registration opens
9:30am Welcome
10:00am Unique Plant Communities of the Allegheny Plateau in Maryland and West Virginia
Rodney Bartgis
At the end of the last Ice Age, the cold-adapted plants migrated back north, remaining only in "frost pockets." The frost pockets of western Maryland support relect populations of sub-artic flora, including tamarack, wild calla, Canadian burnet, red spruce, small cranberry and bog fern.
10:45am Break
11:15am Red Spruce Restoration in Cranesville Swamp
Deborah Landau
Red spruce forests once covered nearly 500,000 acres of western Maryland and West Virginia's mountain valleys. This evergreen canopy created cool microclimates and lush habitat for a diversity of plant and animal life. Heavy logging in the late 19th century left only 200 to 300 acres intact. Today this ecosystem has yet to recover fully. Intact spruce forest provides habitat to numerous state and globally rare species, while maintaining cooler climate conditions essential to the health of associated ecological communities, such as open bog peatlands and conifer swamp forest. As global temperatures rise, restoration work becomes increasingly important. The Nature Conservancy has identified red spruce forest restoration as a critical conservation strategy for Cranesville Swamp, one of the most significant montane bog peatlands in Maryland.
12:00pm Lunch (provided for those who pre-registered)
1:00pm Field Trips
6:00pm Dinner and Social

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Field Trips
Time Activity
times TBA Field Trips

Field Trip Descriptions

Directions

Accommodations

Speaker Biographies

Registration and Fees

Photo Contest winners will be on display during the conference and social. Deadline for submissions is August 15, 2007.

All proceeds from the conference benefit the Maryland Native Plant Society's programs and activities.

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