Continued Inventory of Phylum Tardigrada

We propose to continue our inventory of water bears (Phylum Tardigrada). To date (Jan Œ04) we have identified just over 2000 specimens discovering 46 new records for the park including 8 species new to science.   We have completed most of our field collecting but have a backlog of samples to process and identify.   In addition to continuing the basic inventory, we will work on: describing our new species, developing an on-line taxonomic key to tardigrades, beginning a photo catalogue of our species, and mapping species distributions in the park.