Field Work in Papua New Guinea 2013

In February 2013 I had the great fortune to participate in a Bishop Museum expedition to the Sibium Mountains in Papua New Guinea. Participants included Allen Allison and Shelley James from Bishop Museum, Si He from Missouri Botanical Garden, and Dubi Damas from Lae Herbarium. The Sibium Mountains are in a remote region of the Northern Province accessible only by small plane. I spent three weeks in our camp where I made about 200 general collections of ferns. About half of these were grammitids. Grammitid diversity was moderate, since I was unable to climb higher than about 1680 m, however Prosaptia was particularly rich in the forest. When we were able to call in a plane, Si He and I traveled to the Eastern Highlands and collected around Goroka at 2300m in mossy forest where grammitid diversity is very high.