Ashland University preserve manager Dick Stoffer guided us through several areas of the Black Fork Wetlands Preserve in Richland County, about halfway between the cities of Ashland and Mansfield. The 305-acre preserve is the largest of five environmental preserves owned by Ashland University. The Black Fork of the Mohican River runs through the preserve.

In the morning we collected in the southern part of the preserve, adjacent to Esbenshade Wetlands owned by the Ashland County Park District. At noon we had lunch at the Black Fork Wetlands Environmental Studies Center. The center is an innovative flood-proof, off-the-grid classroom/research building at the preserve. After lunch we explored an area in the eastern part of the preserve, which includes long-abandoned earthworks for an interurban railroad.

So far we have identified  7 lichen species, 5 mosses and 1 liverwort.  We will update this page with further results as we continue to work on our collections. We plan to revisit and explore more of the preserve, which has great potential for interesting finds. Our sincere thanks to Dick Stoffer and Ashland University for hosting our foray!

PARTIAL SPECIES LIST FOR BLACK FORK WETLANDS PRESERVE
N = new county record

LICHENS

Candelaria concolor N
Flavoparmelia caperata
Parmelia sulcata
Parmotrema hypotropum
Physcia millegrana
Punctelia rudecta
Phaeophyscia rubropulchra

MOSSES
Anomodon attenuatus
Bryoandersonia illecebra
Climacium americanum
Entodon seductrix
Plagiomnium cuspidatum

LIVERWORTS
Frullania eboracensis N