A grant has been awarded to Dr. Rex L. Lowe of Bowling Green State University and Dr. Jeffery Johansen of John Carroll University to discover and document new species of algae in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Lowe and Johansen, assisted by students and teachers, will be conducting extensive and detailed surveys of rivers, streams and waterfall spray-zones to better understand the patterns of distribution of algae in the GSMNP and to discover and document new species of algae.
Algae comprise a diverse group of mostly microbial photosynthetic organisms and constitute the beginnings of food chains in most freshwater ecosystems yet little is currently known about what species of algae are found in the park. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park comprises more than half a million acres and is the largest contiguous preserve east of the Rocky Mountains. The park serves as refuge for one of the richest and most diverse collections of plants and animals in the temperate world, however, many forms of life in the park are poorly known or entirely undiscovered. There is a current effort underway by many scientists to document the biodiversity of this important ecosystem. Lowe and Johansen will concentrate on two important groups of algae, the diatoms and the cyanobacteria or blue green algae. These two groups of algae appear to be the most diverse and wide-spread from initial observations in the GSMNP. Initial surveys (the results of which can be viewed on the World-wide Web) <www.bgsu.edu/departments/biology/facilities/algae/smokeys/smokeys.html > have already resulted in the discovery many new species. The results of this research will provided a greater understanding of the species richness and distribution patterns of algae within the GSMNP.
