Research Experience for Teachers

Kathie John
Alice Deal Junior High School
Washington, D.C.

B.A. - Clark University
American University

John Brown, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
US Department of Agriculture
Systematic Entomology Laboratory

"An invaluable experience that I, and in turn, my students will always treasure."

Leafrollers (Insects: Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: a contribution to the all taxa biological inventory

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), located in the states of North Carolina and Tennessee, is home to the most diverse plant and animal life in the temperate world. As a contribution to the All Taxa Biological Inventory of GSMNP, we compiled information on the moth family Tortricidae. Based on 232 samples of leafrollers collected from 1986 to the present, we documented 171 species of tortricid moths. Using three specific estimators from Colwell’s statistical program, EstimateS version 5.0.1, i.e., Chao I, Bootstrap, and Jackknife I, estimates of the actual species ranged from 185 to 225. These three statistical analyses allowed us to find out the true number of species shared between pairs of samples. A comparison of species richness among the ten most frequently sampled sites (n @ 6 sampling bouts) revealed a correlation coefficient (r²) of 0.7765 between the number of samples and the number of sampling bouts. Based on cumulative records, adult moth activity is lowest from February to April; increases drastically in May; continues to increase in June; and gradually decreases through November. There were no species captured in December or January. This pattern of tortricid community phenology deviated from that reported from Kentucky. With the evidence of undersampling during the spring in the GSMNP, differences between documented species and estimated species richness can be explained in part by this shortcoming. Plants and animals are very important to life on earth. Sampling and analyzing the richness of species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is very important. When species are in abundance or no longer present, our whole ecosystem can be affected.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers Award Number EEC-973148, Supplement #11.

Letter of Gratitude