We have documented 60 water mite genera in the Park from collections made from 2005-2009. These specimens, preserved for traditional morphological taxonomy, will continue for many years to be useful in our efforts to document described and new species. However, since these specimens are not suitable for DNA analysis, we began to obtain specimens for this purpose in 2009. Specimens have been sent to Dr. Hebert’s lab at the University of Guelph and to the University of Arkansas for determination of C01 (barcode) gene sequences. These gene sequences are expected to be useful in addressing issues that arise in our taxonomic and systematics efforts.

We propose to return to the Park in 2010 to continue to obtain specimens for DNA analysis. Our goal is to establish a genetic record of the water mite species of the Park to complement the existing morphological record.

Collectors List: CollectorList.pdf

Family Count Graph: FamilyCountAcGraph.pdf

Genera of Largest Family Graph: GenusCountAcGraph.pdf

Project Information: ProjectInfo.pdf

Species Ranking: SpeciesDistributionRanking.pdf

Species Report: Taxonomy.pdf

Upper Taxa List: UpperTaxa.pdf

Principal Investigator

PI Name:  Dr. Ian Smith

PI Organization: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Co-investigator #1

Co-PI Name:  Dr. Andrea Radwell

Co-PI Organization:  University of Arkansas