Toby Spribille and an international team of researchers have led a new study examining the lichen of Alaskan rainforests/John Ulan

Mention Glacier Bay National and Preserve and you'll conjure visions of rivers of ice coating mountains and a miles long bay rich in marine life and birds. But it also holds rainforests that fill the park's fjords, and within those forests are incredibly diverse ecosystems that scientists are still trying to fully comprehend. One thing they do know, thanks to recent research, is that those rainforests nurture one of the highest concentrations of lichen diversity found on Earth.

So?

Well, lichens play an important role in soil creation, but more importantly they trap pollutants. At Glacier Bay, they help filter cruise ship pollution from the air.

An international team of researchers led by Toby Spribille, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Faculty of Science at the Univerity of Alberta, led a team of researchers that found more than 900 species of lichen, including 27 new, never-seen-before species, in Glacier Bay National Park.

"This level of novelty biodiversity is usually associated with 'lost valleys' in the tropics," says Spribille, Canada Research Chair in Symbiosis. "To find this in Southeast Alaska really speaks to how little we still know about coastal rainforests. There are so many new species to science that if you know what to look for, you can average one new species to science per day of field work."

The authors compared cumulative numbers of lichens in four different national parks in southern Alaska and found that together, the parks contain more than 1,300 species. This work highlights the importance of understanding local biodiversity for nature conservation. Each national park is home to many species not found in the other parks.

Within Glacier Bay National Park alone, each fjord was different.

"Of 950 species, we found only 14 species common to all sectors of Glacier Bay," said Spribille. "It makes you wonder what remains to be discovered in all the areas we couldn't get to."

The research team expresses hope that the insights from Glacier Bay National Park will help guide decision-making in other parts of the coastal rainforest ecosystem.

"At high latitudes, biodiversity is locked up in other groups of organisms -- and in Alaska, lichens are clearly one of those groups," said Spribille. "This ecosystem is clearly very old and very diverse for some species groups. Each island and valley is different. As ecosystems go, it is definitely one that I'd label 'handle with care.'"

The study was funded by the National Park Service Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit in the United States in collaboration with the University of Montana, Michigan State University, and the University of Graz in Austria.