Lichen BioQuest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Lichen BioQuest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The first Lichen BioQuest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is planned for June 19 and 20, 2004 at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont near Townsend , Tennessee . Lichenology experts will give lectures geared to a general audience that explain: What is a lichen? Where do lichens grow? How to collect and preserve lichen specimens? How to recognize growth forms? How to identify lichens? Lichen terminology will be demonstrated with picture images and hands on experience using examples of different lichen species. Examples of different lichen groups will be identified using stereomicroscopes and chemical tests. Students, teachers, park volunteers and staff are encouraged to attend. Field trips will target different habitats throughout the park. The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory study sites will be targeted, for example, the Tremont Tulip Poplar site nearby, among others. Lichen collections will be displayed on tables, identified, and be available for public viewing.
The first Lichen Bio-Quest was held at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont near <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Townsend, Tennessee on June 19 and 20, 2004. Over 30 participants registered, including high school and university teachers and students, park volunteers and staff, area residents, and amateur and professional lichenologists. Harold W. Keller planned and organized the event. Two lichenologists served as experts for identification and as foray captains. H. Thorsten Lumbsch, Ph.D., presented a lecture on lichen symbiosis, morphology (growth forms and terminology), reproduction, physiology, ecology, importance, lichen systematics, and taxonomic characters. Professor Steven B. Selva, Ph.D., gave a lecture on the use of calicioid (stubble) lichens as environmental indicators of old growth forests and morphological characters to distinguish this group of lichens. Lower elevation collection sites (Lumber Ridge Trail and Glade Falls, 405 to 550 meters), were located in the Tremont Institute area; higher elevation sites included Spruce Fir Nature Trail, Lower Beech Gap Trail, and Balsam Mountain Road, and ranged from 1,094 to1,680 meters. Results of a short afternoon and full day forays were: total number of different lichen species identified=88; new park records=9: (Aspicilia caesiocinerea, Chaenotheca brunneola, Calicium glaucellum, Mycocalicium subtile, Phaeocalicium polyporaeum, Placynthiella icmalea, Trapeliopsis flexuosa, Trapelia involuta, and Trapelia placodioides).
Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s First Lichen Bio-Quest
Abstract:The first Lichen Bio-Quest was held at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont near Townsend, TN, on 19–20 June, 2004. More than 30 participants included high school teachers and students, Park volunteers and staff, area residents, and professional lichenologists. The primary goal was fi rst to provide an educational component, including lichen morphology, growth forms, terminology, and identification using lecture and video-microscopy presentations, followed by a field component collecting lichens in different habitats. H. Thorsten Lumbsch, an expert on crustose lichens, and Steven B. Selva, an expert on calicioid (stubble) lichens, served as instructors, foray captains, and helped identify specimens. Lower elevation collection sites were located in the Tremont area (Lumber Ridge Trail and Spruce Flats Falls Trail) and ranged from 405–550 m. High-elevation sites (Indian Gap, Spruce-Fir Nature Trail, and the Balsam Mountain Road area) ranged from 1094 to 1706 m. Eighty-eight lichen and lichenicolous fungi species were identified, including 10 new published Park and Tennessee records. The new lichen records were: Aspicilia caesiocinerea, Calicium glaucellum, Chaenotheca brunneola, Placynthiella icmalea, Trapelia glebulosa, T. placodioides, and Trapeliopsis fl exuosa. The new lichenicolous fungi records were: Mycocalicium subtile, Phaeocalicium polyporaeum, and Sphinctrina turbinata.
Southeastern Naturalist. 2007 Special Issue 1:89–98.
