Diversity of Life in America

I finally made it back to the Smokies to help out again in the ten-year DLIA project. This is the fifth year of the ambitious undertaking with the goal of identifying each and every living organism in the Smokies. So far they have found dozens and dozens of species brand new to science; also hundreds of species not previously known to have existed in the Park. This day we were gathering beetles which had hatched out of decaying wood. Each of these plastic tubs has been "seeded" with wood in various stages of decay. The beetles, etc., "self collect" as they emerge and drop into the jars suspended beneath each tub. We will do this every month for a couple of years. On this day there was a group of about ten high school students helping out. I hope to take Sheela with me when it's my turn again in July. BTW, scientists from all over the world are the ones setting up all the activities; we volunteers just do the grunt work.