MICROCLIMATE GRADIENTS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO TERRESTRIAL AND SUBTERRANEAN BIODIVERSITY ALONG THE HIGH KNOB LANDFORM, VIRGINIA

The Big Cherry Lake basin on the High Knob Massif, situated atop the Cumberland Overthrust Block, is part of the wettest terrain in Virginia. The basin includes high valley wetlands, whitewater creeks and the Omega Cave System, the deepest cave system in North America east of the Mississippi River. The massif drains into one of the most aquatically diverse rivers on the continent, yet little work has been done to determine how microclimate gradients influence terrestrial and subterranean biodiversity. A mesonet for defining temperature and moisture gradients in this complex terrain is being developed in order to better understand relationships between terrestrial and subterranean biodiversity and microclimate conditions. Initial work centers around deployment of temperature and relative humidity sensors installed at sites selected to capture both horizontal and vertical changes in conditions between forest, forest edge, and open habitats within high valleys and across different exposures along mountain slopes-ridges and cold air drainage corridors at varied elevations. Data from these sites, combined with data being recorded inside the Omega Cave System, will enhance understanding of the complex, three-dimensional terrestrial-subterranean interaction between microclimate and biodiversity. Analysis of these data are expected to identify temperature and humidity controls on species distribution and biodiversity in the study area. This information will provide insight into how microclimates may have created refugia for species surviving past climate change and how they might aid species survival in the future.