Evolution & Diversity of southern Appalachian Arachnids

I first experienced the southern Appalachians in the mid-1990s, while conducting my Ph.D. research on "cave spiders" (genus Nesticus) of the region. I have been fascinated by the diversity, endemicity, and pure beauty of the region ever since. Fortunately for me, I have been able to continue my studies in these ancient mountains, and more recently, have been able to involve several of my graduate students in southern Appalachian research. Most of our recent survey work has focused on cryophilic ("cold loving") arachnids that inhabit the forested uplands of western North Carolina and surrounding states, although we have also been conducting some cave research in the region. Many of the taxa that we study are rare, and of conservation concern. Our primary on-going research activities are as follows:

Comprehensive fieldwork underlies all of our research efforts. Since 2000, we have collected arachnids from over 300 sites, on six separate trips. These collections increase knowledge of the natural history (e.g., microhabitat preferences, numerical abundance) and geographic distributions of all study taxa, provide baseline data for future work on population trends, and supply specimens for evolutionary and taxonomic research. Also, we often revisit historical collection sites, thereby confirming population persistence.
For several spider genera (Nesticus, Hypochilus, Liocranoides, Calymmaria) and a handful of opilionid taxa (Fumontana, Bishopella, Sabacon, Theromaster) we are conducting multidisciplinary studies of evolutionary divergence that combine spatial, genetic and morphological evidence. These studies provide insight into the historical biogeography of focal taxa, and are the basis for taxonomic revisions. These studies have consistently resulted in the discovery of new species endemic to the region.
A long-term goal is to integrate the many studies of individual taxa into a more "regional" biogeographic picture, providing insight into historical factors that have shaped the biogeographic histories of an entire fauna (i.e., all cryophilic arthropods). This regional picture could also be used as a framework for "community conservation", where conservation efforts would be focused on regions with large suites of endemic arthropod species (or unique evolutionary lineages), or regions with interesting evolutionary dynamics (e.g., contact zones between divergent lineages) for a large set of taxa.

Some Publications:

Hypochilus molecular phylogeny

Hypochilus thorelli phylogeography

new species of cave-dwelling Nesticus

Fumontana natural history

Appalachian Nesticus phylogeny

Acknowledgements - This research has been conducted in collaboration with Bob Dellinger, and my graduate students Steven Thomas, Robin Keith, and Maureen McCormack. Funding has been provided by NSF (DDIG 9213184), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the USDA (North Carolina National Forests). Fred Coyle, Pierre Paquin, Michael Lowder, Jim Starrett, Shahan Derkarabetian, Ryan Fawcett and Lars Hedin have provided much field assistance. Patrick Abbot (and family!), Fred Coyle and Steve Perlacky have been wonderful hosts while working in the region. Rod McClanahan (NC National Forests) and John Fridell (USFWS) have been important contacts. Nadine Dupérré has provided many excellent illustrations.



	Evolution & Diversity of southern Appalachian Arachnids I first experienced the southern Appalachians in the mid-1990s, while conducting my Ph.D. research on "cave spiders" (genus Nesticus) of the region. I have been fascinated by the diversity, endemicity, and pure beauty of the region ever since. Fortunately for me, I have been able to continue my studies in these ancient mountains, and more recently, have been able to involve several of my graduate students in southern Appalachian research. Most of our recent survey work has focused on cryophilic ("cold loving") arachnids that inhabit the forested uplands of western North Carolina and surrounding states, although we have also been conducting some cave research in the region. Many of the taxa that we study are rare, and of conservation concern. Our primary on-going research activities are as follows: Comprehensive fieldwork underlies all of our research efforts. Since 2000, we have collected arachnids from over 300 sites, on six separate trips. These collections increase knowledge of the natural history (e.g., microhabitat preferences, numerical abundance) and geographic distributions of all study taxa, provide baseline data for future work on population trends, and supply specimens for evolutionary and taxonomic research. Also, we often revisit historical collection sites, thereby confirming population persistence. For several spider genera (Nesticus, Hypochilus, Liocranoides, Calymmaria) and a handful of opilionid taxa (Fumontana, Bishopella, Sabacon, Theromaster) we are conducting multidisciplinary studies of evolutionary divergence that combine spatial, genetic and morphological evidence. These studies provide insight into the historical biogeography of focal taxa, and are the basis for taxonomic revisions. These studies have consistently resulted in the discovery of new species endemic to the region. A long-term goal is to integrate the many studies of individual taxa into a more "regional" biogeographic picture, providing insight into historical factors that have shaped the biogeographic histories of an entire fauna (i.e., all cryophilic arthropods). This regional picture could also be used as a framework for "community conservation", where conservation efforts would be focused on regions with large suites of endemic arthropod species (or unique evolutionary lineages), or regions with interesting evolutionary dynamics (e.g., contact zones between divergent lineages) for a large set of taxa. Some Publications: Hypochilus molecular phylogeny Hypochilus thorelli phylogeography new species of cave-dwelling Nesticus Fumontana natural history Appalachian Nesticus phylogeny Acknowledgements - This research has been conducted in collaboration with Bob Dellinger, and my graduate students Steven Thomas, Robin Keith, and Maureen McCormack. Funding has been provided by NSF (DDIG 9213184), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the USDA (North Carolina National Forests). Fred Coyle, Pierre Paquin, Michael Lowder, Jim Starrett, Shahan Derkarabetian, Ryan Fawcett and Lars Hedin have provided much field assistance. Patrick Abbot (and family!), Fred Coyle and Steve Perlacky have been wonderful hosts while working in the region. Rod McClanahan (NC National Forests) and John Fridell (USFWS) have been important contacts. Nadine Dupérré has provided many excellent illustrations.


				male palps of new Nesticus species (drawings by Nadine Dupérré)