Dr. Barbara Andreas
The Environmental & Plant Biology Colloquium Series presents Dr. Barbara Andreas on “In Search of Blindia (Seligeriaceai) in The Cape Horn Archipelago: From Field to Publication” on Friday, Oct. 23, at 11:50 a.m. in Porter 104.
Andreas is a visiting scholar in the Department of Environmental & Plant Biology, and a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at Kent State University. She studies the moss genera Blindia and Rigodium, and the distribution of Ohio bryophytes.
Abstract: The Cape Horn Archipelago (Chile) is an area of approximately 49,887 sq. km. (19,300 sq. mi.), located at the tip of South America. It is part of the UNESCO Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, and has 5 percent of the world’s bryophytes on 0.01 percent of the world’s land mass. There are at least 450 moss and 370 liverwort species. In contrast, 545 species of vascular plants have been reported, with only six tree species.
Blindia is a small genus of acrocarpous mosses found on acidic rock in rheophilous, limnophilous and hygrophilous habitats at high latitudes and/or high altitudes. Prior to the NSF-funded expeditions to the Cape Horn Archipelago, 16 species were recognized worldwide, with only B. acuta known from North America, and B. inundata, B. magellanica, and B. robusta known the Cape Horn region. Three species, new to science, were collected and described during my study of the material.
Andreas will discuss the environs of the Cape Horn Archipelago, life on a research vessel, and the results of a four-year study of the moss genus Blindia.
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