Their textbook would be “The New Neotropical Companion” by John Kricher, an exhilarating read that draws comparisons between our familiar North American species and those one is likely to encounter in a tropical rain forest. The book explains the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), a pattern described by both Humboldt and later naturalists such as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace in which “species numbers per unit area tend to decline strongly with latitude as one travels away from the equator.”
During the Smokies portion of the course, the 10 students from five universities ventured from their classroom at Highlands Biological Station out into the Nantahala National Forest near Franklin, North Carolina. There they encountered salamanders, one of the few groups in the Smokies with species richness that rivals that of the tropics.
Even more memorable for Deeya, who had never before visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was traveling up through the various altitudes and “physically seeing the plant species change as we gained in elevation. To see endemic species like Fraser firs and literally walk through clouds at Clingmans Dome was awe-inspiring.”
As was her instructors’ hope, lessons Deeya learned in South America are already helping her process ecological information about Southern Appalachia.
“One main thing that we learned in Ecuador is the purpose of coloration and morphology in species. Some animals evolved to have bright colors to warn predators that they are unpalatable, called aposematism, or mimic species that are unpalatable,” she explained.
“Other animals evolved to be more sexually dimorphic to attract more mates. The males can display large antlers or generally assert dominance over other males with their appearance to help in mating or display vibrant coloration for courtship,” Deeya continued. “This helped me understand why species here in southeastern North America – like the northern cardinal or eastern tiger swallowtail – look different depending on the sex. These species and many others are all just trying to further their survival.”
She also took away lessons about how climate affects biodiversity in both hotspots. “Seeing the climate change along elevational gradients in both Southern Appalachia and Ecuador and how biodiversity corresponds to that change further cements how disruptive global warming is on our planet,” she said.
Being at Wildsumaco Biological Station and on the surrounding trails was like a continual bioblitz. Hundreds of bird species, moths, butterflies, and insects were seen each day, tamarin and woolly monkeys swung from the trees, and the local hosts brought frogs, worms and snakes to the station for identification. A plethora of hummingbirds grazed at feeders by day, only to be replaced by a spectrum of neotropical bats at night. And when skies were clear, the Milky Way could be seen stretching across the myriad constellations.
But even sensory overload of this magnitude must occasionally give way to introspection. “The single most important lesson I learned,” said Deeya, “was that I am more capable of things than I previously thought and that I should keep being open to new experiences.”
Her favorite memory is of the students’ last night at the station. They had just taken their final exam and could finally let off some steam.
“The entire evening was spent laughing, cheering, dancing, and just having good old fun,” Deeya said. “I realized that I spend too much time worrying about what will happen in the future and not enough time just being present with the people I’m with. Ever since that night, I’ve been striving to live in the present and take every moment in with gratitude.”
Deeya feels the course helped improve her note taking in the field as well as her ability to work with equipment such as spotting scopes. It also gave her new potential career choices to consider as she heads into her sophomore year.
“I can help animals more if I know more about their environment and what goes into maintaining it,” she said. “Even though I still have much to learn, I feel like this course put me on a better path to achieving my goal of working in conservation.”
Comparative Temperate–Tropical Ecology and Biogeography will be offered again in 2026 and is open to students from any university. Highlands Biological Station of Western Carolina University and Wildsumaco Biological Station of Francis Marion University are committed to the study and protection of biodiversity, and to research and education for students, faculty, and citizens of the United States, Ecuador, and the global community. To learn more or discuss opportunities to visit these stations, contact Jim Costa at [email protected] and Travis Knowles at [email protected].
Frances Figart is the creative services director for the 29,000-member Smokies Life, a partner supporting Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing educational products and services such as this column. For more information, visit SmokiesLife.org.
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Publish date : 2024-08-20 23:02:00
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