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Scientists find 890 new species in Great Smoky Mountains

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The casual visitor, jockeying to park at a crowded Smokies overlook, might expect the staff to already know everything that prowls, growls and photosynthesizes in its 521,000 acres.

But secrets abound. And finding the new forms of life will help managers confront the growing threats to one of North America's richest ecosystems.

Researchers in the Great Smokies national park have already found 890 species entirely new to science.

Of those, many are microscopic: 270 types of bacteria, 78 of algae, 57 of fungi. Who knew the Smokies are a hotbed of slime molds?

Tiny creatures play an out-sized role in the park. They're the glue that holds the place together, whether munching fallen leaves into soil, pulling in nutrients or becoming a meal for something bigger.

“In many ways, these species are the power plants and lungs of the ecosystems,” UNC Chapel Hill plant ecologist Peter White told a Senate subcommittee last month.
TravG73

1 responses // Scientists find 890 new species in Great Smoky Mountains

  •  

    It's amazing that scientists go too the amazon or africa
    to search for new species when they are right in our back yard.

    kennymotown

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