Brochures
Discover Life in America: All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory
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Scientific Papers
Annotated List of the Ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A list of the locations of various ant species in the Park compiled by Joe A. MacGown and JoVonn G. Hill. Compiled 2010.
Calicioid Lichens and Fungi of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A survey of the 33 species in 7 genera of calicioid lichens and fungi in the Park. Reportedly 12 of these are new records for the Park and of these 12, two are new records for North America. This list was compiled by Stephen B. Selva in 2009.
A Review of the Tripudia Quadrifera Species Complex
Michael Pogue surveys specimens of the genus Tripudia which was discovered to contain 6 new species from North, Central, and South America. The known collection sites are mapped and methods for differentiating between species are given. Published 2009.
Zootaxa: The Hadeninae of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Michael Pogue surveys five of the six hadenine tribes, of which 52 species of moths are found in the Park. Includes locations and pictures of each species outlined. Published 2010.
The myxomycete life cycle is reviewed and evaluated, by Drs. Everhart and Keller, based on historic and current evidence, and completely illustrated in detail, including trophic stages (myxamoebae, swarm cells, and plasmodia), resting or dormant stages (spores, microcysts, and sclerotia), and developing fruiting bodies.
Fungal Diversity. 29: 1-16. 2008.
Tree Canopy Biodiversity in Temperate Forests: Exploring Islands in the Sky
The University of Central Missouri's Harold W. Keller, Sydney E. Everhart, Melissa Skrabal, and Courtney M. Kilgore presented this paper on determining Myxomycete diversity in the canopy of the Park's trees.
SE Biology.Vol. 56, No. 1, January, 2009.
Tree Canopy Research and Student Experiences Using the Double Rope Climbing Method
Students from the University of Central Missouri explored the tree canopies of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina, Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky, and Big Oak Tree State Park, Ha Ha Tonka State Park, and Pertle Springs in Missouri from the summer of 2000 to 2007. The Doubled Rope Climbing Method (DRCM) was used to climb more than 500 individual trees. Multiple projects examined the occurrence and importance of cryptogams such as myxomycetes, macrofungi, mosses, liverworts, lichens, and ferns. Observations of invertebrates including insects, mollusks, nematodes, and tardigrades were also noted.
J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 2(2): 1309 – 1336. 2008.
Hyphomycetes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including three new species
As part of the All Taxa Biotic Inventory currently being conducted in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, samples of woody debris in freshwater and terrestrial habitats as well as leaves and soil organic matter in terrestrial habitats were collected and studied to detect the presence of hyphomycetes. Sixty hyphomycetes are reported here, and three new species are described and illustrated. Eleven species are new records for the USA, and fifteen species are new records for the park.
Fungal Diversity. 26: 271-286. 2007.
Abstract. Fifteen new species of faronine pselaphines in the genus Sonoma Casey are described: S. baylessae; S. brasstownensis; S. chouljenkoi; S. cygnus; S. gilae; S. gimmeli; S. holmesi; S. mayori; S. nicholsae; S. parkorum; S. nhunguyeni; S. sokolovi; S. streptophorophallus; S. tishechkini; S. tridens. Male specimens of Sonoma tolulae (LeConte) were collected from the type locality and this species is redescribed. These species bring the total diversity of the genus to 43 species. The genus is divided into four species groups based on characters of the male genitalia. Sonoma corticina Casey was not included in the genus when it was described, thus it cannot be the type species of the genus. We here designate Sonoma tolulae (LeConte) as the type species of the genus Sonoma. A key is provided that will allow discrimination of all eastern species. Life history, habitat, and collection techniques are discussed.
Insecta Mundi. 0137, September 2010.
Abstract: A survey and inventory of tree canopy biodiversity for cryptogams (myxomycetes, macrofungi, mosses, liverworts, lichens and ferns) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park resulted in the discovery of an undescribed myxomycete species. This taxon is classified in the order Physarales, family Didymiaceae and genus Diachea. A combination of morphological characteristics distinguishes Diachea arboricola H.W. Keller & M. Skrabal sp. nov. from all other species in the genus: peridium iridescent gold to silvery gray; stalk reddish orange above and whitish below, filled with crystals; capillitial threads stiff, dichotomously branched and arising from the tip of the columella; spore ornamentation uniformly covering the entire spore surface, appearing spiny with light microscopy, with scanning electron microscopy as vertical processes with capitate, clustered, spikelike tips. This type of spore ornamentation has not been found in any other Diachea species. Diachea arboricola is known only from the tree canopy, ranging in height from roughly 3 to 21 m, on three tree species,Fraxinus americana, Juniperus virginiana and Quercus alba. Observations of plasmodial growth and fruiting body development are described based on moist chamber cultures. Tree canopy observations in situ suggest that the plasmodium of this species migrates over extensive vertical areas of tree bark. Ecological factors are discussed that include pH of bark substrata. The species description is based on abundant sporangia from 17 different collections. A key to the species of Diachea is provided to aid in the identification of this taxon.
Mycologia. Vol. 96(3): 537-547.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s First Lichen Bio-Quest
Abstract:The first Lichen Bio-Quest was held at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont near Townsend, TN, on 19–20 June, 2004. More than 30 participants included high school teachers and students, Park volunteers and staff, area residents, and professional lichenologists. The primary goal was fi rst to provide an educational component, including lichen morphology, growth forms, terminology, and identification using lecture and video-microscopy presentations, followed by a field component collecting lichens in different habitats. H. Thorsten Lumbsch, an expert on crustose lichens, and Steven B. Selva, an expert on calicioid (stubble) lichens, served as instructors, foray captains, and helped identify specimens. Lower elevation collection sites were located in the Tremont area (Lumber Ridge Trail and Spruce Flats Falls Trail) and ranged from 405–550 m. High-elevation sites (Indian Gap, Spruce-Fir Nature Trail, and the Balsam Mountain Road area) ranged from 1094 to 1706 m. Eighty-eight lichen and lichenicolous fungi species were identified, including 10 new published Park and Tennessee records. The new lichen records were: Aspicilia caesiocinerea, Calicium glaucellum, Chaenotheca brunneola, Placynthiella icmalea, Trapelia glebulosa, T. placodioides, and Trapeliopsis fl exuosa. The new lichenicolous fungi records were: Mycocalicium subtile, Phaeocalicium polyporaeum, and Sphinctrina turbinata.
Southeastern Naturalist. 2007 Special Issue 1:89–98.
Polypodium appalachianum: An Unusual Tree Canopy Epiphyte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Abstract: The typically lithophilic Polypodium appalachianum was discovered as a canopy epiphyte 35 to 40 m above ground on a horizontal branch of a champion-size Liriodendron tulipifera in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Occurring along with this first documentation of P. appalachianum from the tree canopy was an assemblage of normally terrestrial mosses, an unusual assortment of collembola (springtails), and a flightless proturan insect species previously known only from soil and litter. The distinctive features of this canopy habitat may duplicate some ecological conditions usually found only at ground level, establishing the opportunity for translocating an entire community and providing biologists with new insights on the origin of some epiphytes.
American Fern Journal. 93(1):36-41 (2003)
A Molecular Clone and Culture Inventory of the Root Fungal Community Associated with Eastern Hemlock in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Richard Baird, C. Elizabeth Stokes, Alicia Wood-Jones, Clarence Watson, Mark Alexander, Glenn Taylor, Kristine Johnson, Paul Threadgill, and Susan Diehl
Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 13, Special Issue 6 (2014): 219–237
http://www.eaglehill.us/SENAonline/articles/SENA-sp-6/22-Baird.shtml
