Ferns: Past and present

Background: Pteridophytes (ferns and fern allies) were once a principal component of terrestrial ecosystems dominating the Carboniferous landscape and are of great evolutionary significance. Pteridophytes remain of great ecological significance and form the dominant and most conspicuous part of the vegetation in many ecosystems throughout the world. Some are significant weeds and agricultural pests. The well known bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn), produces arsenic-based compounds toxic to cattle and forms large aggressively spreading colonies. Many ferns are well known as ornamental plants and play an important role in many cultures throughout the world.

Databasing and digitizing extant and extinct fern collections: We are currently at the height of unprecedented interest into the phylogenetic relationships among major groups of living and extinct plants. We are currently in a pilot phase databasing and digitizing pteridophyte fossils from the Mazon Creek assemblage of Illinois (i.e. 315 mya) as well as extant fern specimens from the Great Lakes Region. This represents a novel and exciting inter-disciplinary initiative, offering an innovative synthesis of extinct and extant pteridophytes. The project will greatly increase the accessibility of the collections, making them available online to the scientific and broader community, with far reaching applications.  5000 fossil and extant pteridophyte specimens will be digitized, which will expand the already 400 digitized fern specimens from the Chicagoland area (See http://www.vplants.org/plants).

The pilot project is a joint collaboration between Ian Glasspool (Geology) and Matt von Konrat (Botany).