Tree canopy biodiversity: student research experiences in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Keller, Harold

The activities of the first tree canopy biodiversity survey for cryptogams (myxomycetes, macrofungi, mosses, liverworts, and lichens) are reviewed. The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory under the rubric of Discover Life in America represents a research effort to survey all life forms in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The double rope climbing method is described and illustrated. The public understanding of biodiversity was emphasized through print, exhibitions, and the television media. Student research experiences in the GSMNP resulted in the discovery of a new species of Diachea and an unusual epiphytic habitat for the fern Polypodium appalachianum. Students also experienced night field trips to collect myxomycetes with a flashlight aryd observation and photography of slugs feeding on the immature sporangial stages of the myxomycete Stemonitis axifera. Preliminary results suggest that the myxomycetes are the only group of targeted tree canopy organisms that are restricted to the bark and epiphytes of living trees. Ninety-five myxomycete species were harvested, mostly from moist chamber cultures derived from bark samples taken from the tree canopy. Bark samples were taken from: Juniperus virginiana, Fraxinus americana, Quercus alba, Liriodendron tulipifera, Acer rubrum, and Pinus strobus. Over 500 moist chamber cultures resulted in 52 new myxomycete records from the tree canopy. Seven new records were collected from ground sites. The total myxomycete species now known from the Park is 212. Bark sample characteristics such as pH, tree height, and water holding capacity were analyzed for different tree species to determine their relationship to myxomycete species assemblages. Occurrence and abundance of certain myxomycete species are related to differences in bark pH. Fieldwork during the summer of2000 resulted in 191 lichen taxa collected from the tree canopy with 83 taxa new to the Park. Tree canopy species of lichens, macrofungi, mosses, and liverworts were also known from ground sites.

Tree canopy biodiversity: student research experiences in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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