Botanical Identification and Field Inventory

Have you ever gone for a hike—or gazed at a patch of flowers in your own backyard—and wondered just what all those plants are? The primary focus of this course is on gaining the skills necessary to identify the flora of Western Washington, while learning about the ecology and natural history of the plant communities of our region. Initially we will build plant identification skills and explore a variety of natural habitats in the Bellingham area, from forests to shorelines and freshwater wetlands. During the second half of the course we will design and implement a botanical inventory and field ecological assessment of a local natural area. This work will involve learning ecological survey techniques, quantifying the diversity and abundance of plants present, and documenting our study with a collection of pressed plants. In addition we will prepare a formal analysis and report of our findings.

Learning Objectives
1) To study the ecology and natural history of the flora of Western Washington, including how plant abundance and distribution reflects the diversity of natural habitats in our region.
2) To build practical field skills for identifying and classifying plants.
3) To gain experience with field ecological methods inventorying and analyzing plant diversity at both the species and community level.