Smokies Species Tally

One of the most exciting elements of the ATBI is the ongoing discovery of organisms that are new to science or are new records for park.

Species Tally Chart Key:

• "NEW TO SCIENCE": species have never been identified anywhere before.
• "NEW TO THE PARK": species have never been identified in the Park before.
• "HISTORIC RECORDS": species known to exist in the park prior to the ATBI.
• Highlighted Title: this will link you to the scientific taxon page.
• Highlighted '(map)': a click on these links will take you to a watershed distribution system for all species of this group.

(figures last updated November 2012)

Consider this ...
1) It is amazing to think there are living things all around us that have gone undetected.
2) Finding new records is just the first step in this ambitious project aiming to document all life forms in the Park.
3) So far we have discovered 922 species new to science and 7,391 species new to the Park.
4) The ATBI provides understanding about distributions of organisms, as well as their abundance and ecological roles in the Park.
5) From this inventory knowledge, the National Park Service builds monitoring, stewardship protection, education, and research efforts, targeting its decreasing resources to the most needy species.