An official website of the United States government
The higher elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains, U.S.A., host a rich, but little-studied fauna of Proturan hexapods. Here, we publish 117 Proturan barcode sequences from this region, estimated by automated species delimitation methods to represent 72 distinct species, whereas only nine species have previously been reported from the region. Two families, Eosentomidae and Acerentomidae, co-occur at most sampling sites, with as many as five species occurring in sympatry. Most populations exhibit very low haplotype diversity, but divergences amongst populations and amongst closely-related species are very high, a finding common to other phylogeographic studies of Proturans. Though we were unable to identify any of the barcodes to species, they form a useful, if preliminary, glimpse of southern Appalachian Proturan diversity.
more »
« less
Studies in Lichens and Lichenicolous Fungi - No. 23: Notes on Appalachian taxa including newly reported disjunctions and multiple species new to North America
Arthonia ligniariella is reported for the first time from eastern North America based on a collection growing on lignum in North Carolina, U.S.A. Biatora appalachensis, an Appalachian endemic, is shown to be widespread throughout the Appalachian Mountains, primarily at high elevations. The only report of Fellhanera parvula from North America (Tennessee, U.S.A.) is considered to be F. bouteillei. Fellhanera subtilis, previously reported in North America from the Pacific Northwest, is reported for the first time from eastern North America (southern Appalachian Mountains). Gyalideopsis mexicana, previously reported in North America from the Yukon, Canada and New Mexico, U.S.A. is newly reported from eastern North America (southern Appalachian Mountains, North Carolina, U.S.A.). Lepra ouahensis, a sorediate species with lichexanthone and stictic acid, is reported from disjunct areas of the southern Appalachian Mountains and the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Its distribution is compared to the lichexanthone producing chemotypes of L. trachythallina and Varicellaria velata. Rockefellera crossophylla, a rare species considered extinct in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. is reported to be extant in that state. Psoronactis dilleniana is newly reported from North America from high elevations of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains (North Carolina and Virginia U.S.A.). Xenonectriella streimannii is newly reported for North America based on a collection found growing on Anaptychia palmulata in Georgia, U.S.A.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2436848
- PAR ID:
- 10529790
- Publisher / Repository:
- James Lendemer
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Opuscula philolichenum
- Volume:
- 22
- ISSN:
- 1941-7519
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 81 to 97
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Although many new species of the millipede genus Nannaria Chamberlin, 1918 have been known from museum collections for over half a century, a systematic revision has not been undertaken until recently. There are two species groups in the genus: the minor species group and the wilsoni species group. In this study, the wilsoni species group was investigated. Specimens were collected from throughout its distribution in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States and used for a multi-gene molecular phylogeny. The phylogenetic tree recovered Nannaria and the two species groups as monophyletic, with Oenomaea pulchella as its sister group. Seventeen new species were described, bringing the composition of the wilsoni species group to 24 species, more than tripling its known diversity, and increasing the total number of described Nannaria species to 78. The genus now has the greatest number of species in the family Xystodesmidae. Museum holdings of Nannaria were catalogued, and a total of 1,835 records used to produce a distribution map of the species group. Live photographs, illustrations of diagnostic characters, ecological notes, and conservation statuses are given. The wilsoni species group is restricted to the Appalachian region, unlike the widely-distributed minor species group (known throughout eastern North America), and has a distinct gap in its distribution in northeastern Tennessee and adjacent northwestern North Carolina. The wilsoni species group seems to be adapted to mesic microhabitats in middle to high elevation forests in eastern North America. New species are expected to be discovered in the southern Appalachian Mountains.more » « less
-
Arthonia frostiicola and A. galligena are described as new to science based on collections from mountainous regions of southeastern North America. Arthonia frostiicola infects the saxicolous lichen Dirinaria frostii, producing emarginate black apothecia which erupt from within the host thallus. It is characterized by a dark hypothecium and 1-septate, obovoid ascospores which turn brownish and verruculose in age. It is known from five collections made in the southern Appalachian Mountains and Ozark Mountains in southeastern North America. Arthonia galligena produces galls in the thallus and apothecia of the corticolous lichens Lecanora masana and L. rugosella, and is apparently endemic to the high elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains. It is characterized by a variably pigmented, pale to red-brown hypothecium and 2-septate, macrocephalic ascospores which turn brownish and verruculose in age. Keys to the species of Arthonia on Caliciales and Lecanoraceae are provided.more » « less
-
Previous examination of rain gauge observations over a five-year period at high elevations within a river basin of the southern Appalachian Mountains showed that half of the extreme (upper 2.5%) rainfall events were associated with an atmospheric river (AR). Of these extreme events having an AR association, over 73% were linked to a societal hazard at downstream locations in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Our analysis in this study was expanded to investigate AR effects in the southern Appalachian Mountains on two river basins, located 60 km apart, and examine their influence on extreme rainfall, periods of elevated precipitation and landslide events over two time periods, the ‘recent’ and ‘distant’ past. Results showed that slightly more than half of the extreme rainfall events were directly attributable to an AR in both river basins. However, there was disagreement on individual ARs influencing extreme rainfall events in each basin, seemingly a reflection of its proximity to the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the localized terrain lining the river basin boundary. Days having at least one landslide occurring in western North Carolina were found to be correlated with long periods of elevated precipitation, which often also corresponded to the influence of ARs and extreme rainfall events.more » « less
-
Chrysothrix susquehannensis was originally described from vertical rocks faces at a single locality in southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Here we document new occurrences discovered as result of fieldwork and the revision of herbarium specimens. We show that C. susquehannensis, although rare, is widespread in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America, with a disjunction in New Mexico in southwestern North America.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.5962/p.388460
