All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory

Tennessee is fortunate to have over fifty state parks which include natural areas, archaeological sites, historic sites and recreational parks. All have one thing in common: natural features including complex levels of flora and fauna. Due to the sheer size of most areas, high biological diversity, and lack of continuous studies and monitoring, many parks lack inventories and information about the many plants, animals, and other life forms that reside in them. Such information is vital to protect our parks from major environmental problems such as invasive non-native species, pollution, increasing development and other man-made disturbances.

It is for these reasons that Tennessee States Parks initiated an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) patterned after the ATBI that has been conducted within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for several years. Currently, Tennessee has the only program being conducted state-wide within a state parks system although several other states are conducting ATBIs within individual parks.

 

Big Bluet - Enallagama durum Photo by Richard Connors Marine Blue – Leptotes marina Photo by Michael Hodge

 

The purpose of the ATBI is to inventory and monitor biological features with the parks using park staff, local schools, colleges and universities, friends groups, and volunteers from the community that have an expertise or interest in the program. Data gathered by the ATBI program will help us identify plants and animals we did not know were in the area and, perhaps, identify organisms new to science.

Already, the program has identified several species that are new records for the county in which they were found or are new records for the state. The Big Bluet (Enallagma durum), a damselfly is a new record for the state as is the Marine Blue (Leptotes marina), a butterfly.

To access this database below, please use Microsoft Explorer. You cannot reach the database with any other browser. We apologize for any inconvenience.

As part of the ATBI initiative, a database has been developed which will enable anyone with internet access to see what has been found in the parks.

NOTE: You may get a “Certificate Error: Navigation Blocked” message from your Internet browser regarding when you attempt to access the ATBI database link. Despite this notice, it is safe to click on the “Continue to this web site” and open the ATBI database link. The ATBI database uses a security certificate required by the U.S. EPA.

For additional information about this program, contact biologist David Hill
(david.r.hill@tn.gov).