The Highlands Biological Station is a year-round facility for research on the ecology, systematics and biogeography of plants and animals of the southern Appalachian Mountains. The location of the Station near the crest of the Blue Ridge, in a region of high biological diversity, provides exceptional opportunities for field-oriented research which addresses basic scientific questions in ecology and evolutionary biology. Highlands is an international center for research on two disparate taxa, the flesh fungi (Basidiomycetes) and the lungless salamanders (Plethodontidae). Both groups have high species diversity in the region, in part because of the coupling of a moderate temperature regime with high precipitation. This project will provide funds for purchase of a compound microscope and camera, to be used in the scientific study of these and other organisms at the Station.
