Biodiversity and Geology of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

PAUL BARTELS, Warren Wilson College and TONY IRVING, University of Washington

June 26-29, 2009 in Asheville, NC and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC/TN Apply: UWA

Note: This course has a participant fee of $250 (in addition to the application fee) and a logistical fee of $50 to cover costs of van transportation.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) is renowned for its rich biodiversity. Its140 species of trees are more than in all of Europe combined, and it is home to the richest assemblage of salamanders in the world. Yet, we really know only a fraction of the true biodiversity of the nation’s most visited park. Most is microscopic, below the soil or cryptic, and mostly unexplored. Many factors contribute to the diversity of life in the park, but one central factor is the complex geology and resultant topography.

The mountainous topography is the result of ancient tectonic collisions which formed the Appalachains, and subsequent prolonged erosion has revealed much of the folded and metamorphosed rocks that make up this range. Participants will see exposures of gneiss, metasedimentary rocks, limestones, and even the famous ultramafic rocks in the Webster-Addie ring dike.

GSMNP is home to the nation’s first All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI). This is a herculean effort to identify and map all life forms within the park’s 2000 km². Since it’s inception in 1998, over 6339 new species records have been added to the park, and an additional 890 species new to science have been discovered. This course will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the technologies being used in the ATBI, introduce you to park personnel and scientists involved in the project, and allow you to participate in this historic voyage of discovery.

This course will combine day trips to the Smokies with classroom instruction, GIS workshops, and a microsocopic safari at the beautiful, rural campus of Warren Wilson College. After an orientation session, participants will enjoy 2 daytrips to the Smokies for hiking, guided field trips, and presentations at the park’s new science facility at Twin Creeks. Discussion and curriculum sessions also will be held upon our return in the evenings. Topics to be addressed include: Plate tectonics, Appalachian and GSMP geologic history, metamorphism, current theory and measures of biodiversity, mass extinctions and current threats to biodiversity in general and in the park, factors leading to species richness in the park, an introduction to park natural history (wildflowers, trees, birds, and salamanders), reintroduction of elk, and meiofauna ecology and methodology.

For college teachers of: all disciplines, but particularly natural sciences. Prerequisites: none. Limit: 15 participants

Dr. Bartels is a zoologist at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. He has interests in marine biology, invertebrate zoology, conservation biology, evolution, and behavior. For the past 7 years Dr. Bartels and his students have been working on waterbears (Phylum Tardigrada) for the ATBI in the GSMNP. They have discovered 57 new park records as well as 18 species new to science. Dr. Bartels is the chair of the Natural Science Division, and he teaches undergraduate courses in zoology and conservation biology. He has also led numerous field courses and workshops in the Smokies and the Caribbean. Dr. Irving, currently a Lecturer in the Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, has extensive experience in college and public education in many aspects of geology. He has taught numerous undergraduate and graduate classes in volcanology, petrology, mineralogy, tectonics and historical geology. During the past 25 years he has led many workshops for educators on the diverse regional geology of the Pacific Northwest, Yellowstone National Park and the Northern Rockies.

Email: pbartels@warren-wilson.edu or irving@concentric.net