HR: 1330h
AN: NB33Q-08    [Abstracts]
TI: The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory of Algae in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with a Focus on the Acidophilic Diatom, Eunotia Ehrenberg
AU: * Furey, P C
EM: pcfurey@bgnet.bgsu.edu
AF: Bowling Green State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green, OH 43403 United States
AU: Lowe, R
EM: lowe@bgnet.bgsu.edu
AF: Bowling Green State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green, OH 43403 United States
AU: Johansen, J R
EM: johansen@jcu.edu
AF: John Carroll University, Department of Biology 20700 N Park Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44118 United States
AB: Since the late 1990's, the National Park Service and Discover Life In America have taken on the ambitious task of completing an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). As one of the most species-rich areas in the temperate zone, GSMNP is considered a hot spot of biological diversity and has been designated as an International Biosphere Reserve. Previous research has suggested that the algal diversity is high in the GSMNP and many species are new, endemic, or restricted in range. To date, 67 species new to science and 163 taxa new to the park have been reported. An update of new species and new park findings will be presented. In particular, the GSMNP supports a diverse community of the acidophilic diatom Eunotia Ehr., both in terms of number of species and geographical distribution. Eunotia species can flourish in the park because of aquatic and aerial habitats that are 5-10X more acidic than normal, in combination with the presence of a complex geology and range of altitudes. An image-rich documentation of the Eunotia will be presented, including both light microscope and scanning electron micrographs that show the diversity, distribution and the variability in morphology.
DE: 9810 New fields (not classifiable under other headings)
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly