ab301- new to wild about britain

[ab301]

Just a quick hello, as im a newbie.
there's some great photos on here and interesting discussions that i've seen so far.

Im interested to know if anybody knows anything much about mosses.....
I decided to do a uni project on them as I didn't really know that much about moss, but am now having a bit of trouble with identification. If anyone can help i'd be really grateful.

Well, ill go back to looking at all the amazing photos now
thanx!

[Helen]

Hi abb and welcome to the forum.

[carlj]

Welcome to WAB, Ab!
Know nowt about mosses, sorry, but don't let that stop you enjoying the site!

[wildone]

Welcome to WAB ab301. Glad to hear that you like what is happening here. 'Fraid my knowledge of mosses is nil. Suppose it is another thing I could find out about, if I ever get time.

[Jonny]

Hello ab301 and welcome on in. Wasn't Mosses put in a wicker basket as a baby and floated down a river.......................Jon (in a silly mood tonight)

[ab301]

....ahem... moss then

[nightshade]

Hello AB301,what do you need to know about mosses?they are related to lichens,there are 3-4 classifications,they like damp places but survive drought
they are a foothold to breakdown rocks they like my north facing lawn
Seriously there are people on the site that know but a specific query would help welcome to WAB

[nightshade]

There are some excellent sites and photos online google mosses and lichens

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Jonny

Hello ab301 and welcome on in. Wasn't Mosses put in a wicker basket as a baby and floated down a river.......................Jon (in a silly mood tonight)

Sounds like a Boddie quote

[henrya]

ab301 - welcome. Your local wildlife trust will be able to piut you in touch with the local moss experts (they may even run identification courses)

henrya

[fbcpmike]

Hi, and welcome to WAB.
Here is a link I found some while ago with a usefull pdf file on Mosses and Liverworts, and another site on Bryology . Hope this helps.

[ab301]

Thanks for those links they were quite helpful.....

in response to trying to be more specific....

my main problem is that im basically starting from scratch on identifying different species of moss, and ive got loads of books but they are all quite complicated for someone starting out and don't even help with a starting point really.
say with birds, for example, you know from characteristics whether its say a raptor or a wader of whatever and know whereabouts to start narrowing it down,
but with moss i get utterly stuck as I dont know where to start.
Generally ive been starting backwards in a way by looking at photos and seeing if I have a moss which is similar, which sometimes works, but I still have doubts using this method as I end up with a species name but am not confident about it. Id much rather work down and be confident with say the family name rather that the full on species name that im not greatly confident with.
Basically if anyone can help with suggesting how to begin to start separting them into different classes and why etc. that would be really cool. Ive tried but im just not sure if im going along the right lines or not.

I hope I've made some sort of sense in all that I just wrote! sorry for the long post! any advice will be greatly appreciated!
thanks again for the links and friendly replies
ab301

[henrya]

ab301, try www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk and go to the resources tab where they have links to some sites with good pictures (especially Des Callahan's).

Quote
Id much rather work down and be confident with say the family name rather that the full on species name that im not greatly confident with.
Basically if anyone can help with suggesting how to begin to start separting them into different classes and why etc. that would be really cool.
Endquote

The trouble is that bryophyte taxonomy is still not very fixed (and, as you say, the keys are very difficult) and things keep changing - not even the families can be agreed on! I still think your best bet would be the local wildlife trust or natural history society to find someone who can show you your local species and give you the tips that the keys leave out. What county are you in?

henrya