Plant Diversity at Cedar Shoals -- Lesson 1

A Community Science, Technology, and Education Partnership to Increase Minority Student Participation in the Study of Natural History in National Parks

• Familiarize students with the natural history and ecology of a local taxon.
• Teach students basic survey and inventory techniques in their school yard.
• Teach students how to measure and mark out a specific area of land on their school grounds in which they will identify, measure and map trees.

Much work remains to be done to understand and conserve the planet's biodiversity. Out of the estimated 3 - 30 million extant species, only about 1.4 million species have scientific names, with the majority of species, primarily tropical or marine ones, being unknown and undescribed by science. Even in temperate regions, because of the difficulty of collecting and identifying the rich diversity of small specimens, most of our knowledge from surveys and inventories concerns vertebrates and vascular plants. Invertebrates, fungi, and microbes are poorly known for most areas. Fortunately, as technology advances, it is now becoming feasible to consider conducting complete inventories of our natural heritage.

The concept of an All Taxa Biotic Inventory (ATBI) is to inventory and make information available on all species within a specified area, such as a park or wildlife preserve. An ATBI is now under way in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The goal of an ATBI is not simply to list the presence or absence of species within the defined area but primarily to collect and disseminate useful information on the assemblage of species that live in and move through the area. An ATBI would have many steps between data collection and the dissemination of its final product -- information. Here is a partial list of what might be included:

• Observing, photographing, and/or collecting voucher specimens
• Identifying and documenting the presence of particular species by location and date
• Describing new species
• Developing identification keys
• Maintaining collections of reference specimens, maps and images.
• Surveying and mapping of habitat types, soil types, etc.
• Monitoring climatic variables such as rainfall, temperature and soil moisture
• Documenting the natural history of species (i. e., ecological requirements, life-cycle, diet, seasonal activity,
• population dynamics, etc.)
• Databasing information
• Disseminating information
• Educational outreach.

Materials needed:

• tree and plant field identification guides (eg: Petersons, GA Forestry Commission)
• Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) tapes
• 50 Meter Measuring Tapes
• Flagging
• Data Recording Sheets
• Clinometer
• Stakes
• Optional: Map of the Cedar Shoals (The Athens Clarke-County courthouse may have an original land survey records for properties within county limits. The Clarke County Planning Commission also has maps and aerial photographs.)