Discovering New Life in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: The All-taxa Biodiversity Inventory

Since 2000, hundreds of volunteer naturalists, both amateur and professional, have contributed thousands of hours to inventorying the biodiversity of living species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The project is called the All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) and has been guided and funded by a not-for-profit organization, Discover Life in America. A bit larger than 500,000 acres, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited national park in the United States, with more than 9 million visitors each year. To date, the ATBI has documented the occurrence of over 6000 species new to the Park, more than 900 of which are new to science and never before been described.