Tardigrade Inventory - Year 2
Tardigrade Inventory - Year 2
We made good progress on all of the goals, but due to major illness of the taxonomist for the project, Diane Nelson, we did not get as far as predicted. Still, over 450 samples have been collected and over 1600 specimens have been identified. We have brought the number of species records in the park from 3 to 42, and we believe 3 of these are new to science.
Sampling Standard Sites We have now sampled from 14 of the 19 terrestrial ATBI plots. Most of the remaining plots are balds, which have few lichens and mosses, and therefore few tardigrades. We have also now collected in 12 streams from 5 watersheds in the park, leaving only a single day of collection left to complete the aquatic component of our sampling.
Sampling Specialized Sites Collections have been made in the dolomitic caves around Cades Cover, and our first collections of seeps have been made. Specimens have been identified from the cave samples, including one species which is a new record for North America (Doryphoribius sp.). The seep samples have yet to be processed.
Processing of Backlogged Samples Good progress has been made toward processing samples. Students are cranking out microscope slides, as I write. The bottleneck has shifted somewhat from samples needing to be processed to microscope slides needing to be identified.
Submission of Data to ATBI Database A database of 1590 specimens has been sent to Michael Kunze. This is almost double the size of last year’s submission.
Ecological Analysis The useable database for ecological analysis includes 1300 specimens from 60 samples. This is adequate to let us judge our progress by calculating species effort curves. It also gives us the ability to begin looking for ecological variables associated with tardigrade diversity. A WWC student is currently working on a project in his GIS class, attempting the first distribution models for tardigrades.
Species Richness Estimate curves were calculated using EstimateS 6 software by Rob Colwell of the University of Connecticut. These curves indicate that there are somewhere between 47 and 76 species of tardigrades in the park (Fig. 5), more or less evenly distributed in soil, lichens, moss, and streams. Habitat associations are beginning to be found for tardigrade species, and it is clear that height above ground level is an important predictor of diversity for species living on tree moss.
Bartels, P.J. & Nelson, D.R. (2001). Tardigrade inventory status report. Annual ATBI Conference, Gatlinburg, TN.
Bartels, P.J. & Nelson, D.R. (2002). Tardigrade inventory status report. Annual ATBI Conference, Gatlinburg, TN.
Bartels, P.J. (2003). The ATBI and the Phylum Tardigrada. Natural Science Seminar, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC.
Bartels, P.J. & Nelson, D.R. (ms in prep). A large-scale, multi-habitat inventory of the Phylum Tardigrada in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 9 th International Tardigrade Symposium, St. Petersburg, FL.
