Around Britain in 25 Grasses Online

Grasses, sedges and rushes are crucial indicator species for a range of habitats, both telling you the vegetation type you are in, but also its quality and how well it is being managed. Despite this, many people struggle with their ID, partly due to an absence of large showy flowers.

This course will focus on 5 key species from 5 habitats - improved, calcareous and acid grassland/heath, mire and woodland. The aim will be to show the key features of each species, using simple and memorable vegetative characteristics that can be used all year round.

Habitats will be referenced by Phase 1, UK Habitat Classification and NVC communities, with discussion of what constitutes good quality and poor quality habitats.

Although it is hard to exactly replicate the experience of learning in the field, this course does have the advantage of covering a wider range of habitats than would normally be possible, as well as a chance to see some of the vegetative features in close up (and no risk of your notes getting soaked in a rain storm!).

The course comprises a pre-recorded tutorial interspersed with short self-tests, which can be paused, rewound or skipped at any point during the 24 hours, giving you the chance to have a break when you want, and go back over any species you are less familiar with (or sections where you feel you’ve let yourself down on the test). There is a full test at the end which will be available online in perpetuity for you to come back and test your memory of the species in the future.

There is also a ‘bespoke’ ticket option, for which we will set you up with the tutorial on any date of your choosing.

All proceeds from the course will go to supporting our endangered species conservation work.

The tutorial lasts just over two hours and will be available to attendees for a 24 hour period (from 5pm the night before).

Four days prior to the course you should receive an email with all the joining details on. It appears that several work-based servers are spamming messages from Eventbrite, so if you have not heard from us by then, please check your spam folder, and the email address you used for the booking. In the event you can't find the email please be in touch.

Dominic Price is a highly regarded botanical tutor and has been running courses for all levels of ecologists since 2007. He is director of The Species Recovery Trust and specialises in the conservation of endangered species. He is the author of A Field Guide to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes, and co-author of A Field Guide to Bryophytes and The Photographic Guide to Winter Trees and Shrubs.

For feedback on previous courses please visit our Trustpilot page here

This course can be used as part of your Continuing Professional Development (CPD). We invite attendees to download their own certificate and complete the numbers of hours spent on the course, as we are aware some attendees spend more time reading up about courses before the day, and writing their notes up and re-sitting the course tests afterwards. The hours on your certificate should accurately reflect this time.

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