Microbial diversity in streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Microorganisms rule the world. While there has been great progress towards cataloging microbial diversity in marine, soil, and human ecosystems, we have not made as great an effort in freshwater. This lack of focus on freshwater is surprising given the immense societal importance of these systems for maintaining fisheries, providing clean water, and as recreational areas. I will survey microbial diversity in rivers of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and will catalog microbial diversity using a “fingerprinting” method that will provide a diversity estimate at multiple sites within each river as well as among rivers. I will also sequence individual organisms from each river and compare these sequences with other known microbial taxa to generate a species list for GSMNP. This work will build on previously gathered data on soil and freshwater diversity and place GSMNP diversity at the forefront of scientific knowledge in freshwater science.