Water Mites of North America

HYDRACHNIDIAE

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park
All Taxa Biological Inventory

(For information on the Discovering Life in America project to document the life of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, go to: http://www.dlia.org)

Ian M. Smith, Andrea J. Radwell

We have been conducting a survey of water mite diversity of Great Smokey Mountains National Park as part of the All Taxa Biological Inventory since September 2005.  Collections have been made in 24 watersheds representing stream riffles and pools, springs and seepages, and waterfalls.  Water mites have been found to be abundant and taxonomically diverse in these habitats.  Specimens collected in 2005, 2006, and 2007 include 56 genera in 25 families and 7 superfamilies.  Our research is focused on determining whether specimens represent described or undescribed species.  We currently estimate that more than half of the specimens are undescribed.  We expect these collections to contribute to redescription of certain water mite species and description of new species. 

For information on our ATBI collections, go to Collections.  More specific information can be found at www.atbidatabase.org