New Workshop
Natural Areas and Urban Residents added for Friday, October 29.
Schedule, Symposium, Workshops
In this year’s conference we have made an extra effort to have hands-on and in-depth workshop sessions paired with field trips to allow for training opportunities and continuing education credits. This year’s symposium, Natural Resource Connections, will strive to draw together veteran and new professionals, educators and students from a variety of traditional and emerging natural resource disciplines to discuss how we can better connect across generations and disciplines.
Tuesday, October 26
| 1:30 p.m. | Natural Resource Connections Symposium |
| Natural Resource Connections Symposium: The goal of the symposium will be to produce a position paper that outlines natural resources education and training needs and challenges and potential solutions to foster a new generation of natural areas managers and researchers. | |
Symposium Panel Speakers:
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| Natural Resource Connections Symposium World Café Breakout Sessions |
Wednesday, October 27
| 8:30 a.m. | Workshop Sessions
(*) These workshops are paired with a related field trip on Thursday. |
| 1:30 p.m. | Workshop Sessions
(*) These workshops are paired with a related field trip on Thursday. |
Friday, October 29
| 8:30 a.m. | Workshop Sessions |
| 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Evaluating and Selecting Conservation Projects: Missouri Land Trust Coalition and the Land Trust Alliance |
Symposium
Natural areas managers, as well as traditional forest, fish and wildlife professionals, are increasingly asked to take a more holistic, ecosystem based approach to management. Integration of traditional values with ecosystem management concepts is growing, and the lines between the various disciplines are blurring. Consequently, the skill sets necessary to be an effective resource manager are changing, as are educational and training opportunities.
The 2010 Natural Areas Conference is hosting a symposium to address these issues. It is our ambition to draw together veteran and new professionals, educators and students from a variety of traditional and emerging natural resource disciplines to discuss how we can better connect across generations and disciplines.
The goal of the symposium will be to produce a position paper that outlines natural resources education and training needs and challenges and potential solutions to foster a new generation of natural areas managers and researchers.
Workshops
Large River Natural Communities: Ecology and Management (WS1)
Two of our nation’s largest rivers meet in Missouri, and on each there are major initiatives for restoration, mitigation and environmental management taking place. Join several of those involved in these projects to explore topics of large river ecology and management. Wednesday morning lectures on natural communities, processes, management and restoration will be followed by afternoon discussions of HGM modeling, endangered species, and restoration case studies. For those who register, join these experts on an all day Missouri River field trip on Thursday.
Caves and Karst: Ecology and Management (WS2)
Missouri is known as the cave state, with over 6,300 recorded caves that support over 900 species, and an abundance of springs, losing streams, collapsed chasms, sinkholes and extensive karst landscapes. A spectrum of conservation issues prompt the topics on ecology, protection and management of cave and karst resources that will be covered in this workshop. Wednesday’s topics include cave protection, conservation planning, pollution and bat white nose syndrome. Thursday’s field trip expands the sharing of strategies and approaches outdoors to the dramatic karst landscapes of the Niangua basin at Ha Ha Tonka (10 mapped caves, natural bridge, several large sinkholes and Missouri’s 12th largest spring) and Lake of the Ozarks (20 mapped caves) state parks.
Managing for Diverse Landscapes with Fire (WS5)
Most Missouri and Midwest landscapes developed in the presence of a fire regime, and understanding these is pivotal to managing or preserving them. The presentations will introduce the most contemporary fire management concepts and explore the ways that fire is being used to replicate historic fire regimes for natural landscapes. Thursday’s field trip will tour several long-term fire managed sites in natural areas to view results of landscape scale burns and burns at various seasons of the year within the dramatic Ozark scenery of Ha Ha Tonka Oak Woodland Natural Area.
Stream Ecology and Conservation (WS6)
Missouri and particularly the Ozark Highlands is known for its abundant water and high quality streams. With so much to work and learn from, this workshop features some of Missouri’s top experts discussing the rich diversity and distribution of aquatic species in Missouri streams, patterns of diversity and conservation challenges for the major faunal groups, and the most current stream conservation issues, priorities and monitoring approaches. Registrants for the Thursday field trip will sample stream fish, observe habitat, inspect road crossings modified to improve passage by aquatic organisms and observe stream bank improvement projects in the Little Niangua River watershed.
Plant Identification: Grasses and Composites of the Midwest (WS7)
These two groups are abundant in almost every kind of native Midwestern landscape. Collectively they comprise a high percentage of the dominant, characteristic, conservative and restricted species by which we describe and understand natural communities and properly identifying them is an important skill. Leading field botanists will discuss the terminology and identifying characteristics for the major groups, and offer hands-on learning during the Wednesday classroom session using fresh and dried specimens. A full day field trip on Thursday will explore the Ozark Caverns site of Lake of the Ozarks State Park in habitats ranging from oak woodlands and open glades to mesic woodlands and Ozark fens learning as many grass and composite species as can be packed into one day.
Invasive Plants: A Never-ending Battle (WS12)
For as long as people have been traveling they have been carrying remnants of their homeland with them. As the issue of invasive species draws the attention of academics and government officials, more research is being conducted to determine what the threats are and what the best way of combating these threats may be. This workshop will focus on the life history of and control methods for, a selection of invasive plants, and address some of the tactics that are being utilized to protect natural areas and native ecosystems.
Reptile and Amphibian Ecology and Management (WS13)
Missouri is ranked 13th in the nation in terms of native reptile species diversity, and there are 108 native reptile and amphibian species inhabiting the wide variety of natural communities here from cypress swamps to tallgrass prairies, and caves and streams. Six experts will examine the life history, ecology and population dynamics of herptile species native to the Midwest; emphasizing their place in natural areas conservation and response to management practices.
Tallgrass Prairie: Ecology and Management (WS3)
Learn the basics of tallgrass prairie ecology and how we restore and manage them. Missouri’s modern landscape includes the eastern-most prairie biome’s largest surviving remnants. These prairie remnants span situations from the Ozark Highlands, to Missouri’s Glaciated Plains, and the state’s unglaciated Osage Plains ecoregions. The workshop portion teaches of their soils, geology, plants, insects, birds, and ecological processes providing case studies of prairie problem solving to bring forward the latest restoration and management techniques. Join local experts to explore several of those projects by visiting the 3,000+ acre Wah’Kon-Tah prairie on the associated field trip.
Glade and Woodland: Ecology and Management (WS4)
Large expanses of oak woodlands and glades blanket Missouri’s Ozark region which are rich in native plants and animals and a priority focus for conservation. Invited presenters will share their experiences and views about managing these historic landscapes at Wednesday afternoon’s special interest workshop, with discussion opportunities after each talk. The all day field trip on Thursday will be a conference highlight. Participants will hike through one of Missouri’s best-known and studied remnants – the large and ruggedly scenic Ha Ha Tonka Oak Woodland Natural Area. Experts stationed along the way will discuss contemporary research, natural history and management history of this site.
Dendrochronology and Natural Areas: The Language of Tree Rings (WS8)
The language of tree rings is used to study ecosystems and environmental history with many links between dendrochronology and natural area concerns. Wednesday’s classroom-style workshop will show how the rich natural and human history of natural areas may be documented by measuring, counting and analyzing the rings of trees and other organisms. Participants will be provided microscopes and wood samples for a hands-on learning opportunity. Thursday’s related field trip to Brushy Creek in the Thomas Baskett Wildlife Area will explore the temporal human, vegetation and landscape history in a riparian hardwood forest with trees older than 400 years.
Macrofungal Ecology and Identification (WS9)
This workshop will familiarize participants with a major driving force in natural communities, the macrofungi. The workshop will teach basic mushroom taxonomy and identification, and explore the roles fungi play in our ecosystems. The field trip will be spent touring numerous areas of Ha Ha Tonka Oak Woodland Natural Area, seeking mushrooms and other fungi in glades, various woodland types, forests and fungal-rich sinkholes. Identification instructions will help participants use taxonomic keys, microscopes and associated tools/reagents and dissection to learn mushroom development and important identifying structures.
Cooperative Weed Management Areas (WS14)
Cooperative Weed Management Areas are local organizations that work on invasive plant management across jurisdictional boundaries. They allow partners to share and leverage limited resources, raise awareness about invasive plant problems, and provide a mechanism for collaborative problem-solving on both public and private lands. In this workshop, you will learn about the benefits of starting a Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA), the 16 steps to starting a CWMA, and where to find funding for a CWMA. The Coordinator of River to River CWMA in Illinois will also talk about how that organization got started and what they have accomplished. There will be time at the end of the workshop for discussion and questions.
Conservation Easements and Natural Areas Protection (WS20)
Explore how to protect natural areas using conservation easements. What is the past, present and future of conservation easements to protect natural areas? Real-world examples illustrate the status of land trusts and easements in the United States, highlighting current issues and demonstrating both benefits and limitations.
Pollinators in Natural Areas (WS21)
Share up-to-date information and ideas on pollinator ecology and its importance in rare plant management, pollinator diversity, monitoring, management, restoration and conservation status. This workshop provides a forum for researchers studying pollinators in natural areas and natural communities.
Conservation Genetics (WS23)
Modern genetic techniques are more amenable for field work than ever before. These techniques have many diverse applications to problems arising in conservation including identifying units for conservation management, monitoring the biological impact of translocation and management programs, and identifying habitat and other features that influence movement across a landscape. These applications will be illustrated with worked and ongoing examples.
NewNatural Areas and Urban Residents (WS 25)
This workshop will explore connections between natural areas and urban residents with examples from Kansas City, St. Louis and other urban areas.