All the books Schenk recommends in his 'Further Reading' section are very useful. One of them is even free - namely Michael Fletcher's 'Moss Grower's Handbook' which you can download from the British Bryological Society website.
http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Resources/Downloads.htm#mgh

That same website is also a helpful portal to the more technical taxonomic literature.

after roaming around and asking for resources, im pretty depressed about the whole lack of writting on the topic of new world spp. and habits. quite the poor showing. i suppose if i read japanese, the moss world would be wider...

England is a much different place than the most of the new world. as is also Japan.

froggy

froggy;

1.Go to USDA website for pictures of mosses.

2. Read Schenk's book over and over and over and over .....

3. Read Moss Grower's Handbook by Michael Fletcher over and over and over and over.....

4. Go collecting. You should be able to collect in Wisconsin fourty to ffity species within ten to twenty miles of your house in a week. And if you can find a good sandstone canyon with shade you may find a couple hundred species in that canyon.

Now after doing the above and growing the moss you have collected you will want to idenitfy the moss as to genus and species. Identification even to genus can be a challenge to put it mildly. North America has about two thousand different species. Mosses of Eastern North America (2 volumes) has drawings and descriptions but it can be really technical. You can get it through your library system but it is out of print. Mosses of the Great Lakes by Howard Crum is available for about fourty dollars from the University of Michigan Press. It is hard bound and 591 pages. Growing moss as a hobbyist is not all that difficult just different rules. If you want to get into moss identification it is a much, much more difficult task. Look at the books and if you are still interested email me and I will invite you on some moss id day trips around central Illinois or central Indiana.

Rick