ATBIs

[John Morse]

Chris and Bill have made some good points about the inadequacies of various
versions of ATBIs.  I certainly agree that too little money has been made
available so far to accomplish the stated objectives of these inventories.

However, with regard to the taxa being studied, let me correct one
misconception about at least the ATBI in the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park.  The Friends of the GSMNP in 1999 funded work on arachnids, mammal
ectoparasites, mammal webpages, moths, copepods, vascular plants, slime
molds, crayfishes, and oligochaetes.  In 2000, they funded work on
nematodes, earthworms, beetles, leeches, grasshoppers, aquatic insects
(mayflies-stoneflies-dragon/damselflies-alderflies-caddisflies), and
bacteria, as well as continuations of some of the 1999 projects.  Proposals
for 2001 are currently in review and, of course, only some of them will be
funded; however, they include projects on such taxa as noctuid moths,
canopy epiflora, cave arthropods, chironomid midges, long-horned beetles,
diatoms, drosophilid flies, lampyrid beetles, mosquitoes, aquatic flora,
protozoa, salamanders, wasps, and spiders.  There have never been proposals
submitted or funded regarding birds or butterflies and the grants for
mammals have been only to help heighten public awareness for a group
well-known to science.

(Note that Discover Life in America, Inc., the non-profit organization that
is sponsoring the GSMNP ATBI, is taking significant new strides to improve
the availability of funds for these and similar research efforts, including
the hiring of a fund-raiser.)

In other words, work is getting done on poorly studied groups and
taxonomists and parataxonomists are being trained in those groups.  (E.g.,
Two of the students in my lab are learning their caddisfly taxonomy with
ATBI projects.)  While the inadequacies of our efforts are very evident,
please recognize the generosity and the sweat of those who are doing what
we can to improve both the knowledge of All Taxa and the human and
infrastructural resources necessary to continue that improvement.  The
input of those willing to help in any way are always welcome!

John Morse
Co-Chair, DLIA Science Committee and
Coordinator, Mini-Grants Program,
GSMNP ATBI

(Note that these opinions are personal and do not necessarily represent the
official views of DLIA, the NPS, GSMNP ATBI participants, or other relevant
organizations or individuals.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------