Association Helps Launch First
Comprehensive Inventory of All Life in The Adirondack Park
Adapted from an Article Written for the Association’s “Issues & Actions” Journal, August 2005 by Michael DiNunzio, Director of Special Projects
One of the most inspiring keynote presentations featured at the Association’s “Discover Life in the Adirondacks” conference in the fall of 2001 was made by Keith Langdon, who described an ongoing project to inventory all life in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Intrigued by the concept of implementing such an ambitious, exciting program in the Adirondacks, Association staff worked with President Brinkley in the late summer of 2004 to find fertile ground where this idea might take root and flourish. It was apparently an idea whose proverbial time had come, for the response to our inquiries was overwhelmingly positive, and the program is now moving rapidly forward.
Known as the Adirondack All Taxa Biological Inventory, or ATBI for short, this initiative was officially launched at a gathering hosted by Paul Smith’s College in the fall of 2004. Langdon, who serves as Supervisory Biologist at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was on hand to describe the six-year-old ATBI project in the Smokies, sponsored by Discover Life in America, which is the first comprehensive biological inventory to be undertaken in North America.
Great Smoky Mountains ATBI Model
Since the inception of the Great Smokies ATBI program in 1999, scientists from around the world, park staff, and students from local schools, all working under the Discover Life in America umbrella, have added more than 2,500 new species of plants and animals to the list of organisms previously catalogued there. Over 250 of these species were completely unknown to science!
Similar efforts modeled on the Smokies program have recently been implemented in other parks and natural areas around the country. But the Adirondack ATBI is by far the largest – covering the entire six-million-acre park – and is unique in that its scope includes both the “forever wild” public Forest Preserve and the privately owned farms and forests of cooperating land owners.
Adirondack goals and Objectives
The Adirondack ATBI initiative is still in the formative stage, but its long-term goal is to eventually inventory all species of all taxonomic groups within the park, including everything from bacteria and fungi to mammals, insects and birds. It is not limited to rare, endangered, or threatened species, it is not government based, and it is not a regulatory or merely a monitoring program. Initially, the focus may be placed on the Park’s dragonflies and damselflies, which are relatively easy to find and identify, and which never fail to captivate laymen and experts alike.
At its core, the Adirondack ATBI is designed to be a path of discovery that uses a systematic approach to biological inquiry. It will ultimately be successful if it helps to instill a profound awareness and understanding of life in the Park and a deeper appreciation of the global treasure that is the Adirondacks. Additionally, the program will enhance our knowledge of the diversity of species in the Park, their distribution, their life histories, and the ecological roles they play in the environment. A web site will be developed to provide a window on the program and its progress, such as a description of current investigations, a gallery of images, and other information useful to a broad array of stakeholders including Park residents, civic leaders, school children, scientists, land owners, and the general public.
The Association is proud of its role in spawning the Adirondack ATBI program, in keeping with our abiding commitment to building collaborative relationships that leverage our resources and effectiveness. Currently, about a dozen groups, institutions, and agencies have come together to form the ATBI, and our membership is still growing. The effort is hosted by Paul Smith’s College, which initially shared primary administrative and coordination responsibilities with the Adirondack Sustainable Communities organization. But Adirondack ATBI is a true partnership that could not function effectively without the active participation of:
- the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks
- SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
- the Adirondack Park Agency
- the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
- Wildlife Conservation Society
- Adirondack Nature Conservancy
- Audubon
- the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute
- and the New York Natural Heritage Program.
Please consider joining with all of us as we seek to understand, honor, and nurture the biological diversity and natural beauty of the Adirondack Park.