Discover Life in America

Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 21:26:34 -0400
To: ircebrev@nsf.gov
From: pick@pick.uga.edu (John Pickering)
Subject: Intent to submit IRC/NSF proposal
Cc: Karen_Ballentine@nps.gov, hbarrios@ancon.up.ac.pa,
        bogartg01@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us, moth@ra.msstate.edu,
        bcarroll@infointl.com, colwell@uconnvm.uconn.edu,
        Coley@biology.utah.edu, PCOLEY@bci.si.edu, gladys_cotter@usgs.gov,
        cvcove01@homer.louisville.edu, idg@nhm.ac.uk, mark_fornwall@usgs.gov,
        Phil_Francis@nps.gov, whallwac@sas.upenn.edu, wfharris@utk.edu,
        bphayden@nsf.gov, cgodoy@rutela.inbio.ac.cr, djanzen@sas.upenn.edu,
        Johnson.2@osu.edu, tkiernan@npca.org, keith_langdon@nps.gov,
        lockard@pick.uga.edu, longinoj@elwha.evergreen.edu,
        grsm_friends_of_grsm_np@nps.gov, spruance@infinet.com,
        jmorse@clemson.edu, becky_nichols@nps.gov, chuck_parker@nbs.gov,
        pulliam@ecology.uga.edu, mrose@esper.com, dsmith@sel.barc.usda.gov,
        dsiegel@nsf.gov, Mike_Soukup@nps.gov, Chris_Stein@nps.gov,
        mjwillia@tricon.net, windsord@tivoli.si.edu,
        WOODDM@EM.AGR.CA, rblanco@acguanacaste.ac.cr,
        mmchava@acguanacaste.ac.cr, multihc@sol.racsa.co.cr,
        gjimenez@acguanacaste.ac.cr, amasis@acguanacaste.ac.cr,
        fchava@acguanacaste.ac.cr, smiller@icipe.org, scottm@bishopmuseum.org,
        allison@uhunix1.its.Hawaii.Edu, BASSETY@tivoli.si.edu,
        gweiblen@oeb.harvard.edu, nspringate@icipe.org, jdh@nhm.ac.uk,
        novotny@bishopmuseum.org, dbrooks@zoo.toronto.edu,
        mroossinck@noble.org, msharkey@byron.ca.uky.edu,
        dwagner@uconnvm.uconn.edu, pswhite@unc.edu, alr@ahab.rutgers.edu,
        sitten@sol.racsa.co.cr, mzumbado@rutela.inbio.ac.cr, braconid@uwyo.edu,
        ninaz@uwyo.edu, nwoodley@sel.barc.usda.gov, jwhitfie@comp.uark.edu,
        mschauff@sel.barc.usda.gov, ldyer@mesa5.mesa.colorado.edu,
        ggentry@mesa5.mesa.colorado.edu, AIELLOA@tivoli.si.edu,
        ghartsho@acpub.duke.edu, shubbell@phoenix.Princeton.EDU,
        mhunter@dogwood.botany.uga.edu, mkaspari@ou.edu, praven@nas.edu,
        jugalde@euclea.inbio.ac.cr, ewilson@oeb.harvard.edu,
        wilson.don@nmnh.si.edu

We intend to submit an Integrated Research Challenges in Environmental Biology proposal for the NSF's February 9, 1999 deadline.

(1) Questions:
Our proposal will focus on plant-herbivore-parasitoid interactions, addressing questions of spatial scale, community diversity, density dependence, trophic interactions, phenology, and host specificity. Our study's design will allow us to test hypotheses concerned with the conceptual framework of the evolution and ecology of complex systems.

(2) Integration:
For an array of plants and insects, we propose to determine how ecosystems are put together and function by examining evolutionary and ecological constraints and processes within them. We will document the specificity of species-species interactions and consider evolutionary constraints in host selection and switching. At different geographic scales, we will consider how abiotic factors and population abundances affect the diversity, dynamics, and function of trophic interactions and the stability and health of the system as a whole.

(3) Research Approach:
Our work will center on comparing species diversity and ecological processes in replicated vegetational plots within Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Within the Park, we will measure vegetational diversity, herbivory by all macrolepidoptera, sawflies, and selected other taxa, and parasitism by Hymenoptera and Diptera. At other sites in the eastern United States, primarily school yards and local parks, we will gather supplemental data through the participation of teachers, their students, and local naturalists.

(4) Investigators & Institutions:
The proposed work will be a sub-component of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) of GSMNP -- a comprehensive study of all the species within this park. The ATBI is coordinated by Discover Life in America, a new volunteer science and education organization, in partnership with the National Park Service. Please see <www.discoverlife.org> for details on our organization and general goals.

The IRC proposal will be submitted through Discover Life in America, or its fiduciary the Friends of Great Smokies, and/or collaborating universities. Numerous investigators, students, teachers, and others will participate, including John Pickering (University of Georgia), Mike Sharkey (University of Kentucky), Dave Wagner (University of Connecticut), and Peter White (University of North Carolina).

Our proposal is linked closely with Dan Janzen's proposal to work in Costa Rica. Although administratatively independent and each meritorious, the two proposals are complementary. By increasing geographic scale, they will allow direct tropical-temperate comparisons of two very complex and rich ecosystems and help us to better understand ecological and evolutionary forces.

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>

Discover Life in America | Great Smokies | NSF-IRC | Pickering - 30 November, 1998