Scientific Findings, Success Stories, Lessons Learned, and an Alliance of ATBIs
Keith Langdon, Charles Parker, and Becky Nichols
© 2006 The George Wright Society. All rights reserved. This article was first published in The George Wright Forum, the GWS's journal of parks, protected areas, and cultural sites. For more information, visit www.georgewright.org.
Introduction
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Taxa Table Click table for latest taxa tally. |
Success stories
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- From the beginning, the ATBI has been an international activity. Scientists from Costa Rica
and Canada attended the first organizational meeting in 1997, and since then scientists from
around the world have worked with us in conducting the ATBI. In addition to Canada and Costa
Rica, scientists from France, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine have either visited
the park to conduct studies, or have identified ATBI material we provided them.
- Reducing the taxonomic impediment. As detailed in (The
Science Approach to the Smokies ATBI), the taxonomic impediment is the shortage
of authorities to meet the world’s needs for taxonomic services, not just in tropical countries
with rapidly disappearing rain forests, but also in temperate areas such as North America.
More students need to be encouraged to study systematics, and more opportunities for professional
careers in systematics need to be developed. Thus, we are extremely pleased that the ATBI
has contributed to reducing the taxonomic impediment by directly influencing students to
pursue advanced degrees in taxonomy. Currently, there are at least 12 students who have worked
on aspects of the ATBI during their degree programs, and may eventually make the career choice
of becoming taxonomists.
- Two examples are Ian Stocks and Matthew Petersen.
- Stocks served as the principal technician on the ATBI pilot study in the Smokies and was responsible for plot maintenance and sample retrieval and processing. Although he came to us with a Master’s degree and a professed interest in technical work with no desire to pursue a Ph.D., his experiences with the ATBI ultimately led to a change of heart and he is now is pursuing a doctorate in insect systematics at Clemson University.
- Petersen began working in the park as a field technician in the inventory and monitoring
program. Like Stocks, he professed no interest in pursuing an advanced degree; however,
he worked in the park during the time that the ATBI was being formulated, and eventually
decided to take advantage of the opportunities it presented. Petersen currently is studying
crane fly systematics at Iowa State University for his Ph.D.
- These two students are likely to be involved for years in working out the systematics of
their two groups, and assisting other reserves conducting inventories.
- Two examples are Ian Stocks and Matthew Petersen.
- Protecting the park. As data are accumulating from the ATBI, it has become
a standard source of information for environmental assessments and the several full environmental
impact statements (EISs) that the park has been deeply involved with in recent years. Results
from comprehensive species inventories were instrumental in keeping critical resource sites within
the park during a highly controversial and political land trade. Results are also influential
in other EISs that are still going through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.
Routine environmental compliance is also better informed, and we are becoming better able to
craft viable alternatives to initial proposals.
- Awareness. All methods of communication are important, but we have emphasized
the utility of the DLIA website. A wealth of information is now presented here, and recently
the ATBI database has come online and is linked from this site. Accessing the public version
of the database, which has had rare, sensitive, and commercially collectible species locations
removed, allows people to find on-going reports of georeferenced data.
- The thrill of new discoveries has helped encourage local and regional citizens and students to become involved in the ATBI. But beyond the adventure of field exploration, there is a sense that the surrounding communities value the park more now, perhaps because of species that they may have helped discover. There has always been a “pride of place” sentiment around the Smokies, and that uniqueness now has deepened. It is difficult to quantify that change in the public’s valuing of the park, but other parks and reserve staff who have visited and experienced ATBI activities have been moved to initiate their own ATBI projects based on that perceived increase in support.
Lessons learned
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 Click photo to enlarge. Photo by Jeanie Hilten. |
- Begin with data management. Develop
a data management plan that your area and your cooperators will agree to use. Require that people
populate the database with their findings. However much you devote to data management, it will
not be enough. But your program will only be as successful as your data management strategy.
- Taxonomists are a scarce resource. Do not waste their precious time. They may be willing to
donate their services, but it should not be expected of them. Your ability to secure funding
will influence your ability to secure taxonomic assistance.
- Collaborating scientists face their own bureaucracy in their home institutions. Do what you
can to reduce agency bureaucratic burdens on them when they agree to work with you.
- Make sure there are social opportunities for
cooperators. Taxonomists normally work independently, unlike ecologists who often work tribally,
and volunteers who work best when positive reinforcement is optimized. Much innovative collaboration
will result if social opportunities are encouraged.
- It is easy to over-collect specimens (The Science Approach
to the Smokies ATBI), especially during bio-blitzes. It becomes expensive to
handle, to ort, and, especially, to identify specimens, and then to process them for museum
use. Avoid collecting just because you can, or because it is part of a public event; it does
no good to have specimens in unsorted lots in storage for years.
- It is important when relying heavily on volunteers to conduct critical aspects of a complex
activity to match the right volunteer with the right position. In the beginning of the ATBI,
several scientists volunteered to serve as Taxonomic Working
Group coordinators, and in most cases, these individuals have worked well. However,
some were poorly suited to the tasks of coordinating fellow scientists (an activity often compared
with herding cats) and it was necessary to find replacements for them. Recruit broadly, and then
check with folks you trust who know the person. Some personality types are great enthusiasts
but may not be good coordinators, or do not have a good track record on finishing things. (Quote
from the first ATBI conference: “90% of life’s successes and failures is due to personalities,
the other 10% is due to weather.”)
- Bio-blitzes and other large, intensive
field collection events are fun, generate a lot of involvement by scientists and volunteers,
and create positive popular press. However, it is easy for such activities to result in very
little useable data when all is said and done. Not all field scientists understand how important
it is for stewardship purposes to have accurate map coordinates for all samples. Things may be
too rushed, and too many logistical issues may come up in the day or two that most blitzes run
that will ultimately prevent you from assuring that the results are meaningful.
- Difficulties can be prevented with sufficient planning.
- Plan much more than you think you need for quality assurance in the data stream.
- Have designated people serve as specimen and specimen lot labelers so that no material goes unlabeled.
- Provide staff or volunteers trained in global positioning system (GPS) use and who know your spatial data accuracy requirements to assist visiting researchers.
- Make interactive mapping programs available for collectors to use in order to ensure the accuracy of collection locations, or have topographic maps available on which collection locations can be verified.
- Place someone in charge of checking all data that comes in, throughout the course of the event.
- Scientists appreciate decent lodging facilities for themselves and especially for their students. It also is desirable to provide a central place where groups can work together. If you treat them well, they will tell their network of colleagues, and perhaps they, too, will want to help out the next time.
- Everyone needs to be involved in keeping costs down, and being alert for new funding opportunities.
An Alliance of ATBIs (see ATBI Alliance)
- What is the most ecologically diverse nation on Earth? The answer depends on how you measure
diversity. When the 14 non-marine biomes of the world are mapped, the U.S., with about 6% of
the world’s land area, has 12 of the 14 biomes— more by far than any other country (Udvardy 1975).
Similarly when Bailey’s ecoregions are mapped world-wide, the U.S. again has the most number
of regions (Bailey 1989). In addition, the U.S. contains about 10% of the world’s freshwater
wetlands (Aselmann and Crutzen 1989).
- But these are coarse filters and the U.S. would presumably not fare nearly as well as many
other countries when other measures, such as species richness are used—or would it? Again, it
may depend on what you measure. Certainly at the Smokies we, and especially our cooperators,
have been surprised by the number of species we have discovered so far. In some groups, the number
of species in the park rival or exceed the numbers in tropical rain forest areas. But in a larger
sense this kind of comparison is so superficial that it misses the point: almost all of the species
in the U.S. are different from those elsewhere, and deserve to be discovered, identified and
thereby be protected in their own right.
- How will we ever know what is natively found if we never undertake to sample this country? We now briefly outline a plan to do just that. Imagine an array of national parks, state parks or reserves, and other permanently protected areas organized for the purpose of undertaking ATBIs, which are roughly stratified across some eco-regional classification. That is, the deserts of the Southwest, grasslands in mid-country, polar areas, tropical islands, marine and estuarine areas, temperate coniferous and deciduous forest areas, and all the other major and minor “eco-regions” of the U.S. (see Stein et al. 2000). The total area of the U.S. included in these intensively sampled sites would be far less than 1% of the land area, and, as we learn in other articles in this volume, actual field samples in each area will be far less than 1% of the reserves being sampled. Still, this would give us tremendous insight into the biodiversity of those reserves, those ecoregions, the country, and the Earth as well.
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Figure 1. The Alliance of ATBIs. Click map to enlarge. Map by Twin Creeks Natural Resources Center GIS. |
- An Alliance office will need to be created to coordinate regional and national funding proposals,
set up mechanisms to increase scarce taxonomic resources, operate publications and communications
links and outlets, and other tasks collectively assigned to it. Funding for each project could
potentially start with a local or regional source of donated funds, and professionals and volunteers
in the area can be recruited to help organize and conduct operations. Major funding from corporations,
foundations, and agencies in the form of grants, cost-sharing, and other funding mechanisms will
be sought for multiple projects by the Alliance office, and groups of scientists should be encouraged
to apply to their traditional grant sources, such as the National Science Foundation.
- An ATBI is a comprehensive scientific inventory of biological diversity that includes citizen participation. It is more than a count of species, as it also highlights the relationships within an ecosystem and emphasizes how such relationships can inform and guide management decisions regarding the conservation of ecosystems. An alliance of regionally or locally based ATBIs takes the next organic step in understanding the ecology of unique ecosystems within North America and enhances local citizenship participation and stewardship of those systems. An alliance of ATBIs provides a viable means to share that understanding of organisms and their environments and to share lessons learned in developing, managing, and funding such inventory efforts. By getting the local and regional public involved in the science, the reserves each build stronger constituencies for their own long-term protection, and individually and collectively make a major change in America’s connections with nature, and science.
References
Aselmann, I., and P. J. Crutzen. 1989. Global distribution of natural freshwater wetlands, rice paddies, their net primary productivity, seasonality, and possible methane emissions. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry 8, 307–358.
Bailey, R. G. 1989. Ecoregions of the continents. Map, 1:30,000,000. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture–Forest Service.
Stein, B. A., L. S. Kutner, and J. S. Adams, eds. 2000. Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press.
Udvardy, M. D. F. 1975. A Classification of the Biogeographical Provinces of the World. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Keith Langdon, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Resource Management and Science Division, 1314 Cherokee Orchard Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738; keith_langdon@nps.gov.
Charles Parker, U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Discipline, Great Smokies Field Station, 1314 Cherokee Orchard Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738; chuck_parker@usgs.gov.
Becky Nichols, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Resource Management and Science Division, 1314 Cherokee Orchard Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738; becky_nichols@nps.gov.
© 2006 The George Wright Society. All rights reserved. This article was first published in The George Wright Forum, the GWS's journal of parks, protected areas, and cultural sites. For more information, visit www.georgewright.org.
