RESULTS
PROGRESS TO DATE
INITIAL PLANNING AND START-UP.—Thanks to a one-year NSF SGER grant (T. W. Pietsch PI, 1 March 2008-28 February 2009), a good start has been made in all targeted regions of the Elwha Valley, above, between, and below the two dams. With respect to the lower Elwha, which lies outside the Olympic National Park (see Fig. 1), an extremely complex mosaic of private, state, federal, and tribal properties has been mapped, and permission to collect has been secured from all parties. Scientific collection permits from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Parks Service are in hand. All major and minor participants have expressed their full commitment to the work. Space has been secured at PC to use as a staging area for curation and preliminary sorting of material, as well as for classroom training of staff and students. A solid working relationship has been established with the Olympic Park Institute to conduct monthly environmental education forays along the river (see Outreach). The beginnings of a website (www.ElwhaBiodiversity.org) have been posted and material is being added on a daily basis. Large collections of all targeted taxa have been made at 763 sites along the river, above, between, and below the two dams (all localities mapped and posted on the project website; see http://ElwhaBiodiversity.org/data/maps): 250 soil samples from along the river and 60 sediment samples from the two reservoirs now in freezers awaiting processing; more than 600 lichens, about 400 fully identified, representing 128 species, another 150 identified to genus; 815 bryophytes, of which 730 are identified to species; 1,750 spiders, all fully identified, representing 134 species; at least 500 macrofungi, 172 fully identified, representing 127 species, all others identified to genus; more than 20,000 insects, over half sorted to order. The material represents numerous new records for the Elwha River Valley and Washington State as well as several undescribed species.
PRELIMINARY VISITS.—Numerous collecting trips to the river have already been made: 21 separate visits by groups of one to four participants, and three major week-long efforts (1-5 April; 28 April-3 May; 26 May-1 June)—with a full-scale backpacking trip to the headwaters of the river scheduled for early July—each consisting of nine to 12 collectors (larger groups are discouraged to avoid adverse impact on the Park as stipulated in our federal collecting permit). Additional short trips per week of one to four collectors, and week-long all-participant trips per month are planned throughout the summer and fall.