Floristics without a magnifying glass?

Catarina Rydin. Photo: Margareta Ohné.

The seminar was opened by Catarina Rydin, plant systematist at DEEP, where there is now a lively discussion about how the floristics course should be laid out in the future. Today, students are expected to learn 200–250 different plant species by heart, with both Swedish and scientific names. They must also learn to identify unknown plants using the identification key. The learning is based on the students having enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers, that they use magnifying glasses and Krok-Almquist's flora and that they spend eight long days in the field.

But perhaps conditions have changed? The students are not used to learning so much by heart. Today's teachers and researchers do not always have such good knowledge of species themselves - precisely that is no merit when filling teaching positions. Can you invest more in self-study instead of being so much in the field? Are simple picture floras with Swedish names sufficient instead of Krok-Almquist? Do you even have to use a magnifying glass? Or is more general knowledge, fewer species and fewer details sufficient? Catarina let the questions hang in the air for the time being; time will tell if there will be any changes to the course.

Faunistics: mostly birds and insects

Cilla Kullberg. Photo: Margareta Ohné

The seminar continued with Cecilia Kullberg from Zootis describing how the faunistics course is laid out. Here, too, it is important to learn a lot by heart. Among other things, the students will learn 70 species of birds, 15 species of fish and numerous taxa within the systematics of insects. They will also learn to identify animals with the help of literature and a magnifying glass. The course also includes methodology for collecting and preparing animals.

The faunistics students are of course also in the field. In addition to four half-day excursions, they have five full days at the Tovetorp field station. Then they engage in field trips and determination exercises and also get to try out inventory and bird ringing. However, since the course is in late summer, it is too late to learn the birdsong in the field; for that you have to resort to audio recordings. But Cilla could testify to how happy the students are when they next discover that they recognize which birds are singing.

Field courses give nature familiarity

That species knowledge is important was not something that needed to be discussed during the seminar; everyone agreed on that. Good knowledge of floristics and faunistics provides a background for understanding ecological and evolutionary theories and is an absolutely necessary basis for those who will teach biology. Being able to name what grows, crawls and sings also gives an insight into the enormous diversity of the living world and the importance of sustainable development and conservation work.

But as the biology teachers from the school pointed out: being able to identify animals and plants when you are out in nature requires training and it should preferably start early. Unfortunately, the nature habit students get, both from home and through school, varies enormously, depending on local socio-economic conditions.

Therefore, it is important that the future teachers themselves get used to nature so that they do not hesitate to take the students out into the woods and fields. The biology teachers thus had an important message for us at the university: the field teaching in the floristic and faunistic courses must not be cut!
The next seminar for biology teachers will be tentative in October. Suggestions for discussion topics are very welcome!