Tropical lichen
Boreal sphagnum moss
Lichens and Bryophytes Nantahala
Tropical lichen
The American Bryological and Lichenological Society (ABLS)
2024 Annual Meeting
Shawnee Lodge in West Portsmouth, Ohio, USA
Thursday, July 11 - Sunday, July 14, 2024
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Abstracts
Abstracts are due by 5 April 2024 and should be submitted via the conference abstract submission site at the link below. You will need to set up a free account via EasyChair before submitting an abstract. https://easychair.org/cfp/ABLS2024 Presenters must register for the meeting before a time for your presentation will be scheduled.
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Only ABLS members may register for the meeting (annual membership is affordable at only $10 for students, $25 for individuals, and $35 for a family). Follow the link below to join, renew, or confirm your membership before registering for the meeting.
https://abls.allenpress.com/abls/HOME.aspx
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Registration
Register for the meeting using the link below. You will need to set up a free account via EasyChair before registering. https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=abls2024
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* To qualify for the student rate, a student can have graduated in the spring 2024 semester or can be first registered as a student for the fall 2024 semester. A student should be prepared to support their status with the name, professional affiliation, and contact email address for their major professor or advisor.
Accompanying Adult Rate - $15
Accompanying Child Rate - $10
Accompanying adults and children are welcome to attend morning field trips, afternoon snack breaks, and meals that are purchased via the packages listed below. If accompanying adults will be attending the afternoon/evening research presentations they will need to register separately as a non-professional attendee.
Travel to the Meeting
These major airports are each a two-hour drive to the meeting venue. There is no public transportation from these airports to the Shawnee Lodge. You will need to rent a vehicle or carpool with other attendees who are renting a vehicle to then drive from the airport to the conference center.
Cincinnati - Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
Columbus - John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
Carpooling Coordination
If you are interested in sharing a ride from the airport to the meeting venue please follow the link below to a Google Form to coordinate carpooling with other attendees. This form is for coordinating carpooling for both persons planning to rent a vehicle who have open seats they are willing to share, either at no cost or with cost sharing, and for people who are looking for a seat in a vehicle to carpool to the meeting. Offering an open seat in your rental vehicle may be especially helpful for international attendees and students.
Carpooling Google Form:
To see responses and coordinate with other attendees, click here.
Attendees are responsible for coordinating whether vehicle rental costs will be shared or not. The conference organizers will not be responsible for any miscommunications regarding vehicle rental costs.
Herbarium Visits
We have made arrangements for ABLS 2024 meeting attendees to visit the University of Cincinnati Herbarium (CINC) or the Ohio State University Herbarium (OS) on either July 11th or July 14th. You can either visit for a tour and to see specimens in the collection or to work on a research project using the collections. Please indicate in the registration form your interest in visiting these herbaria and times will be coordinated based on the level of interest. Please take into account time for plane disembarkment, acquiring a vehicle, and travel to the herbarium when expressing your interest.
Housing
Online reservations for the Shawnee Lodge are not available for our meeting rates.
Please call the reservation line at 740-858-6621 or 1-800-282-7275.
Be sure to mention that you are reserving a room under the American Bryological and Lichenological Society block at the Shawnee Lodge to get the rates listed below.
Reservations for the Shawnee Lodge must be made by May 20, 2024. Rooms may not be available after this date and the prices listed below cannot be guaranteed.
A deposit of the first night’s room, taxes and fees are due at the time each reservation is made. The room deposit remains fully refundable up to 3 days prior to arrival. Any No Shows or cancellations will be charged the first night’s room rate, taxes and fees. Guests will need to present their credit cards upon arrival. A per room incidentals hold will be placed on all guests’ credit cards. Guest incidental accounts must be paid in full upon departure.
More information about the accommodations available at the Shawnee Lodge can be found at this link. https://www.shawneeparklodge.com/lodging
Shawnee Lodge Pricing per Room or Cottage
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Additionally, there are two state campgrounds near the Shawnee Lodge:
Turkey Creek has 2 cabins, many electric campsites, and 21 non-electric tent campsites.
Ohio River Campground has 12 electric campsites and no tent sites.
Use the link below for more information and to make a reservation.
https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/shawnee-state-park
Please reserve as early as possible for the campgrounds, as they both have limited space.
Persons NOT STAYING at the Shawnee Lodge MUST have their own daily transport to and from the lodge.
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Housing Sharing Coordination
If you are interested in sharing housing for the meeting please follow the link below to a Google Form to coordinate housing sharing with other attendees. This form is for coordinating housing sharing for both persons planning to reserve a room/cottage/cabin/campsite who have open beds/spots they are willing to share and for people who are looking for a bed/spot seat in a room/cottage/cabin/campsite to share. Additional instructions are on the housing sharing form at this link.
Housing sharing coordination form:
To see responses and coordinate with other attendees, click here.
Attendees are responsible for coordinating cost-sharing for housing. The person renting the housing is responsible for declaring the cost that will be shared to persons interested in sharing the housing. The person interested in sharing housing is responsible for requesting the costs that will be shared from the person renting the housing. The conference organizers will not be responsible for any miscommunications regarding housing costs.
Meal Packages
The prices listed below are for one adult person. If you are staying at the Shawnee Lodge, registering for all meals is recommended. Restaurants are not close by and joining in on group meals will facilitate interactions among conference attendees.
Meal times are 7-9am for Breakfast and 6-8pm for Dinner. The breakfast time may be shortened to 7-8am if only a small number of people sign up.
Additional meals for an accompanying adult (who does not need to be an ABLS member) and kids meals (ages 12 and under) can also be purchased. Prices for these additional people are listed on the EasyChair Registration page.
Thursday, Dinner: $25
Friday & Saturday, Breakfasts, Boxed Lunches, and Dinners (6 meals): $114
Friday & Saturday, Boxed Lunches and Dinners Only (4 meals): $78
Friday & Saturday, Dinners Only (2 meals): $50
Friday & Saturday, afternoon snacks with coffee and tea service are included with your meeting registration.
Dinners on Friday & Saturday will have a cash bar that will be open for three hours.
Sunday, Breakfast: $18
Sunday, Boxed Lunch: $14
Please mark on the EasyChair Registration form if you need vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, pork-free, or red meat-free meals. Personal food and beverages cannot be brought into the public spaces and meeting rooms at the Shawnee Lodge and Conference Center.
Field Trips
Below are the descriptions of the field trips for Friday, July 12th and Saturday, July 13th which will be located in the Edge of Appalachia Nature Conservancy property (https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/edge-of-appalachia-preserve-system/).
Transportation to the sites will be required to be by carpool due to the restricted parking at the sites. Collection permits will be arranged for the sites with restrictions on the collection of rare species. Thanks to Chris Bedel of the Cincinnati Museum Center and Preserve Director for helping us coordinate these field trips and our collection permits.
Please log back into your Registration via EasyChair and indicate your preferences for the dates and
field trips that you would like to attend.
Friday Field Trip Options
Abner Hollow Preserve Trail
Difficulty: Moderate with some uphill sections.
Length: 2-miles with many off-trail opportunities.
Parking: There is a small roadside parking area big enough for 6 cars.
The Abner Hollow Preserve is closed to public visitation and is known for its mesic hollow which slopes up from a small stream to steep hills and ridge tops. The amble on this little used trail will take hikers up the hollow on the lower slopes just above the stream. The trail into the cliff-lined hollow is underlaid by dolostone derived soils in a mixed-mesophytic woodland with large slump blocks covered in ferns and spring ephemerals.
While the return trail traverses an old logging road through oak/hickory forests on acidic soils derived from Ohio Shale bedrocks--eventually dropping down through small prairie barrens on dolostone. These soil differences make for a surprising contrast from one side of the hollow to the other.
Lynx Prairie & Spring Glen Amble
Difficulty: Easy walking on a two-track lane that is not open to the public.
Length: Self determined although the lane goes 1.5 miles. Many off-lane exploration possibilities.
Parking: There is a public parking lot for the Lynx Prairie Trail that holds 10 cars.
This walk starts at the public parking lot for The E. Lucy Braun Lynx Prairie Trail however, it does not follow the public trail. Instead, it follows an old roadbed closed to the public into a network of Xeric Limestone Prairie and cedar barrens imbedded in forests. Springs and wet seeps abound on the slopes west of the lane in the primarily calcareous landscape boosting diversity and interest. Acid soils nose in from the east and cross the roadbed in several places which add a surreal contrast to the primarily prairie habitat. This area is where the 21,000-acre preserve began 65 years ago and is named to honor E. Lucy Braun, herself a fine bryologist as well as botanist. A fitting location indeed.
Saturday Field Trip Options
The Wilderness Preserve Trail
Difficulty: Challenging due to rugged topography and uneven trail surfaces. This is a maintained public trail.
Length: The entire trail is a 2.5-mile loop, but this hike can be as short as desired with many off-trail
exploration possibilities.
Parking: There is a large, developed park lot for 10 cars. It is a public trail so if cars are present there is plenty of room for parking along the small lane leading to the lot.
This trail is the site for some of the preserve’s earliest lichen collections by mycologist Dr. Jerry Snider from the University of Cincinnati, so it is fitting that ABLS possibly build on this knowledge. The trail traverses Xeric Limestone Prairie, open forests, small streams in gorges with numerous slump boulders and wet and dry dolostone cliffs imbedded in a forested landscape. Plant diversity is high along the route and the mycological diversity likely follows suit. The entire trail is over neutral soils derived from dolostone and Estill Shale.
Teakettle Prairie & Old Quarry Site
Difficulty: Moderate walking initially on old logging road and then off-trail following ribbons to quarry site.
Not open to the public.
Length: Less than a mile to the old quarry. Many off-trail exploration possibilities.
Parking: Roadside parking along a very little used country lane that doglegs off St Rt 125. Room for 6 cars.
This area is named for a dolostone rock that sits atop a small cliff that resembles a teacup. The trail starts off through an old house site with a spring before cresting a small cliff line into Teakettle Prairie. The less than acre prairie is divided into two sections by encroaching forest and is bordered upslope by acid soils on Ohio Shale. After visiting the prairie, flagging will lead hikers off-trail through varying aged forests to a small, old, inactive quarry site. Soil is minimal and open rock is the norm with many specialist organisms that endure the exposure. Not quite alvar but as close as it gets on the preserve. Return off-trail following flagging back to the roadside parking.
We will also provide a map of the Shawnee State Forest (https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/shawnee-state-forest) with hotspots for lichens and mosses and other points of interest highlighted, so you can explore on your own when you have time.
For more information about on-your-own field trips, click here.
Specimen Identification
We will have a classroom available for specimen identification work. Please bring your own microscopes, identification books, and powerstrips/cords (if possible), if you would like to identify specimens at the conference center. The specimen identification room will be secured all all times that it is not being used by attendees for for specimen identification.
Late evening times set aside for specimen identification are listed in the agenda. Additional times for specimen identification can be arranged upon request. Please see the staff at the front desk to for access to the classroom.
Awards
ABLS student members presenting talks are eligible for travel awards to help cover the costs of attending this meeting, especially if attending this meeting is not fully covered by other funds. Please indicate on the registration form if you have sufficient funding to attend the meeting and do not want to be considered for a travel award.
If you are a non-student, please consider contributing to help support the Student Travel Awards for student presenters. If you would like to donate, log in as a member, at this link https://abls.allenpress.com/abls/HOME.aspx . Then select DONATE on the top menu bar. Follow the instructions there to donate.
The A.J. Sharp Award of $1000 will be given at this meeting to the Best Student Presentation (only 20-minute talks will be considered).
Meeting Agenda: In Brief
All times listed below are Eastern Time.
July 11
Travel to the meeting
Visit the University of Cincinnati (CINC) or Ohio State University (OS) Herbaria
Executive Committee Meeting 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
July 12
Breakfast 7:00 am - 9:00 am
Field trip 8:30 am - 1:00 pm with boxed/packed lunch
Presentations 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Snack Break 3:20 pm - 3:40 pm
Dinner 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Specimen Identification 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Additional times for specimen identification can be arranged upon request.
July 13
Breakfast 7:00 am - 9:00 am
Field trip 8:30 am - 1:00 pm with boxed/packed lunch
Presentations 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Snack Break 3:20 pm - 3:40 pm
Dinner 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
All-Member business meeting 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Specimen Identification 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Additional times for specimen identification can be arranged upon request.
July 14
Breakfast 7:00 am - 9:00 am
Field trip 8:30 am - 1:00 pm with boxed/packed lunch
Specimen Identification Room 8:00 am - 3:00 pm
Open for final identifications, cleanup, and packing out
Depart the meeting
Visit the University of Cincinnati (CINC) or Ohio State University (OS) Herbaria
Cancellation and Refund Policies
Cancellations and refunds must be requested through EasyChair before June 10th, 2024. There is a minimum $55 processing fee for all cancellations.
We reserve the right to substitute speakers or cancel or reschedule sessions because of low enrollment or other circumstances. If the meeting must be canceled in its entirety due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control (including but not limited to, war, terrorism, failure of transportation, weather, accidents, fires, electrical failures, strikes, labor disputes, postal delays, explosions, and government orders or regulations), ABLS may refund the appropriate registration fees to meeting registrants; no refunds shall be made for travel expenses related to the conference. Registrants who purchase non-refundable airline tickets do so at their own risk.
If an attendee is unable to attend the annual meeting due to their inability to acquire a travel visa, a partial refund may be granted. Individuals seeking a refund due to visa issues should submit the request in writing to the ABLS President-Elect, Jessica Budke <jbudke@utk.edu>.
Anyone with an emergency who must cancel after June 10th; please email Jessica Budke <jbudke@utk.edu> ASAP to let us know you will not attend. No refunds are guaranteed after June 10th.
