The Smokies, Nature Quest, Fungi and You
From lorelei@teleport.com Thu Feb 11 02:07 EST 1999
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:07:44 -0500 (EST)
To: Theresa Rey <mycocom@aol.com>, Susan Mitchell <Sachem@CITCOM.net>,
Allein Stanley <astanley@i-america.net>,
Rod Tulloss <ret@pluto.njcc.com>, lorelei@teleport.com
From: lorelei@teleport.com (Lorelei Norvell)
Subject: The Smokies, Nature Quest, Fungi and You
Cc: pick@discoverlife.org, Keith Langdon <Keith_Langdon@nps.gov>,
GCARROLL@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU, rhanlin@arch6.cc.uga.edu,
ret@pluto.njcc.com, ded@sfsu.edu, mccleneghanc@appstate.edu,
Amy Rossman <AmyR@nt.ars-grin.gov>, repete@utk.edu,
SLS@FSCVAX.WVNET.EDU, "J. Dey" <jdey@titan.iwu.edu>,
Tom Rude <rude0001@acpub.duke.edu>, Rytas Vilgalys <fungi@duke.edu>,
Richard Harris <bbuck@nybg.org>, Robert Fogel <rfogel@umich.edu>,
Joey Spatafora<spatafoj@ava.bcc.orst.edu>,
Tom Volk <volk_tj@mail.uwlax.edu>, lorelei@teleport.com,
<dl@discoverlife.org>
Dear Theresa, Rod, Asheville and the rest of the interested mycological world --
Dr. John Pickering of Discover Life yesterday (see the letter forwarded
below) called me yesterday to discuss the possibility of including fungi in
the large "kick-off" Nature Quest for the Smoky ATBI scheduled to begin not
on March 1 but -- I'm sure you will undoubtedly be relieved to hear -- in
late May. It now appears that March 1 was all too optimistic. While the
"ad hoc" research by individual scientists is still scheduled to begin on
March 1 and there will be spartan scientist digs available (that is roof,
walls, floor, bunk beds -- and I'm not sure about those -- and running
water), the sorting center won't be in evidence and the park won't be quite
ready yet for large group activities that early. (Budget, as might be
expected, is still in the minimal stage.) Thus the Powers That Hope To Be
are scheduling the Nature Quest week to coincide with the legions of
Dipteran specialists due to descend on North Carolina for a meeting in late May.
For the most part, the macrofungal project would not be affected,
particularly as it is slated to be located in the Cataloochee side of the
Park. As noted below, however, the ATBI needs the oomph it can get from a
visible activity such as a nature quest. I went out on a limb and agreed
that Fungi would love to participate with the Diptera and Ants (there is
some hope that Edward O. Wilson of "Ants", "Naturalist", and "Consilience"
fame will be present). I was rather hoping it would NOT be scheduled too
close to Memorial Day, but my visit to the web site today indicates that it
is provisionally set for May 27-31 (give or take a few days).
At least this schedule plan does give us a little more time to get training
workshops and protocols in order. From what is described on the web (which
you can reach via links from www.discoverlife.org), this would be sort of a
burst of "collect everywhere with the eager participation of the Youth of
America" type of activity from which real scientific gains might be made.
It could be that the transects could for the longer running Butterflies
project could be set up before then so everyone would have some idea of the
most efficient way to sample and how to voucher the specimens collected. It
might also give us an additional idea of the fungal variation to be found in
different areas of the park.
Could you let me know if I am all alone on the end of this limb that I am
temporarily calling "Angels and Insects" (it would be rather nice for fungi
not to be regarded as denizens of the underworld for a change.....)?
Warmly,
Lorelei
[The letter below is a reply sent to Eric Metzler and cc'ed to the rest of
us; I've removed some of the material directed essentially only to Eric]
Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 01:23:08 -0400
From: pick@pick.uga.edu (John Pickering)
Subject: ATBI Nature Quests
Eric et al.,
Many thanks for your thoughts and support. I'm very positive about the
concept of having intensive nature quest/hunt/blitz's with our professional
societies leading local volunteers. So long as these events generate good
science, they'll be fantastic publicity for biodiversity and the ATBI.
Besides leps, this letter concerns developing Nature Quests for ants,
flies, fungi, and eventually other taxa.
To make a publicity splash and officially start field work in the ATBI's
pilot year, the dipterists and mycologists, in conjunction with our
educational and communications committees and others, will coordinate a
high-profile Nature Quest from 27 to 31 May, 1999. I'm also hoping that Ed
Wilson will pick this as a good time for him to collect ants in the Park
and contribute to the start of our coordinated across-taxa field work.
At our December meeting, there was considerable discussion about Nature
Quests. The scribes notes of the relevant discussion are on our website
<www.discoverlife.org> linked to "Events" and then "Group & Project
Reports" for the 14-17 December meeting. I sat in some of this discussion
and urge Peter Adler, Kitty Esco, Christi Gaasch, George Carroll, John
Morse, Chris Thompson, and Dave Wagner to become key players in getting
ATBI Nature Quests up and running. I'm asking Christi & Peter to draft a
short Executive Summary of the discussion and run it by the rest of you by
the end of this month.
In addition to the positive aspects from such events, concerns were
expressed about (1) possible negative PR generated by the "image of mad
scientists running around killing innocent moths/flies/...," (2) data
quality, and (3) how to include individuals who want specimens for private
collections. Having identified these concerns, we need to explore
solutions, come to a concensus, and proceed.
....
Peter Adler, Chris Thompson, Brian Wiegmann, are coordinating the fly
"killers." Brian is leading the North American Dipterists Society's
participation this May, using his website, which is linked to
<www.discoverlife.org> under "Events." Chris just sent information on the
ATBI and May's Nature Quest to their 500+ members.
Regarding the "butterflies of the soil, " as we are now to call fungi,
Lorelei Norvell is enthusiastic about including a mycological event in
parallel with the fly one. She suggested that Rod Tulloss, our Macrofungal
Coordinator, and members of the Ashville Mushroom Club were likely
participants.
Kitty Esco has also agreed to develop and test collecting protocols for
ants with Georgia teachers and students this April and then to help
coordinate volunteers collecting ants during the Nature Quest in May.
Stefan Cover, Larry Gilbert, Mike Kaspari and Ed Wilson are among possible
myrmecologists who may be persuaded to participate.
Starting tomorrow, Heather Alley will maintain a section on our website to
keep a record of everyones correspondence regarding Nature Quests.
Everyone should copy their correspondence to this site by sending it to
<dl@discoverlife.org>. It can be read at <www.discoverlife.org> by linking
to "Great Smokies," then "Planning & Organization, and finally, "Nature
Quests."
Regarding organizing Nature Quests in the Park, I recommend that you work
with Jody Flemming (logistics), Bob Miller and Tom Kiernan (PR), Kitty Esco
and Christi Gaasch (Outreach), Karen Ballentine, Elizabeth Skillen, Chris
Stein, and Ken Voorhis (Education), Keith Langdon (who can steer you
through the Park's permitting issue), and the taxonomy teams. You can get
list of taxonomy teams and everyones emails from our website's "Who's
Involved" section.
After consulting with Keith, I recommend that we form a Nature Quest
outreach team led by Christi, Brian, Kitty, Lorelei, & you, presuming that
you all are willing. Christi has agreed to call and coordinate your first
meeting. Ideally you should select additional members and then elect
three co-coordinators. Your team needs to interface with communications,
education, science, and our other committees and teams. It might report to
Discover Life in America's Board of Directors, either directly or through
one of our standing committees. After we see what you put together, we can
decide which of these is the most appropriate avenue to choose.
The Nature Quest will be the largest single event that Discover Life in
America coordinates this year. We should aim to present its scientific
results at our General Evaluation & Planning Meeting, 8 - 10 December, thus
giving us time to work-up and analyze our findings. Keith and I suggest
that we plan to sample over 1,000 sites across the Park and then build
distribution maps for selected taxa based on the Nature Quest's findings.
This will be no small undertaking. Please let us know how we can help you
in any way.
In short, your charge is to excite the public, educate the masses, and get
some good data. Have fun.
Cheers,
Pick
_________________________________________________________
John Pickering
Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2602
Office: 706-542-1115 Messages: 706-542-3379
Laboratory: 706-542-1388 FAX: 706-542-3344
e-mail: pick@pick.uga.edu Home: 706-353-7076
Web sites: <www.discoverlife.org> <http://dial.pick.uga.edu>
_________________________________________________________
Lorelei Norvell, PhD
Pacific Northwest Mycology Service
6720 NW Skyline Blvd
Portland, OR 97229-1309
phone: 503 297-3296
FAX: 503 296-6745
E-mail: lorelei@teleport.com
| Discover Life in America | Science | Nature Quest | Norvell - 11 February, 1999 |