Biological Jewels in Tree Canopies. (Biological Science Section).

Counts, J.W., L. Henley, M. Skrabal, and H.W. Keller. Department of Biology, Central Missouri State University. BIOLOGICAL JEWELS IN TREE CANOPIES. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) is famous for its large remaining uncut forest, over 40,000 hectares, in the Tennessee-North Carolina region of eastern United States. The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) program will attempt to complete a comprehensive inventory of all life forms in the Park. This will include the first comprehensive inventory of the cryptogams (myxomycetes, macrofungi, mosses, liverworts, and lichens) in the tree canopy. An undergraduate research team spent six weeks collecting bark samples from over 160 trees. Using the double rope climbing technique students scaled the tree canopy to heights of 35 meters. The data collected will help in determining the effects of humans and other physical factors on the environment. The tree canopy biodiversity research project has led undergraduates to pinpoint specific topics for furthe r investigation such as the faunistics and taxonomy of tardigrades, the diversity and distribution of myxomycetes on oaks and the association of myxomycetes with mosses. Canopy bark samples were sorted, placed in moist chambers, and cultured for a minimum of two weeks. Moist chambers were then scanned for tardigrades and myxomycetes using a dissecting microscope. A digital camera system provided picture records of life cycle stages. Mature fruitings were preserved in specimen boxes. Tardigrades (water bears) are removed with an Irwin loop and then mounted in Hoyer's solution or polyvinyl lactophenol. Specimens collected from the tree canopy have produced 30 new myxomycete records, including a new species of Diachea for the Park. The National Science Foundation, Division of Environmental Biology, Biotic Surveys and Inventories Program Award #0079058 has supported this project.