Environments and Ecosystems of North Carolina^*

What is an Ecosystem?

• The definitions of ecosystem, biological community, habitat, population
• What happens when an ecosystem changes?
• Succession - a change that occurs naturally in an ecosystem after a disturbance
• How humans cause ecosystem changes - Fishing in NC Estuaries (Pamlico Sound) has removed most of the oysters - This affects the Food Web of the estuary  - Figure from Jackson et al (2001).

What is Biodiversity?

• Definition of biodiversity - The number of different species, genes, or ecosystems in a region represents the biological diversity of the region.  Some places have high biodiversity (rainforests, coral reefs, deep sea) and some have low diversity (Arctic, salt marshes, harsh environments). NC has intermediate levels of biological diversity, but what is present today is declining.
• Diversity measures - species richness
• How humans can cause declines in biodiversity

North Carolina Ecosystem Survey (Slide show)

The outline that follows provides you with a brief overview of the major terrestrial and freshwater habitats of North Carolina (see Shafale and Weakley 1990).  There are three main physiographic regions in North Carolina: the Appalachian Highlands, the Piedmont, and the Coastal Plain. Each of these regions has a different geological and ecological history.

Map of the physiographic regions of NC

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Appalachian Highlands

Ecosystem types:

• Mountain Bald: grasses, sedges, forbs, rhododendron; shrubs and trees invading and sporadic; not above tree line; origin and maintenance not fully understood possibly combined factors of fire, grazing, climate and soil conditions
• Spruce/Fir Forest: red spruce, Fraser fir in dense stands
• Mesic Forest: American beech, red maple, white pine, red oak, chestnut oak, rhododendron and mountain laurel on well-drained slopes; formerly dominated by American chestnut (now extirpated)
• Cove Forest: Carolina hemlock and Canadian hemlock, yellow poplar; rich moist soils, high relative humidity, low light in sheltered coves
• Mountain Bog and Fen: sphagnum, alder, red maple; small, isolated, and rare
• Mountain Stream: headwaters streams (1st order), high velocity, cool temperature, high DO, low BOD; several species of endemic freshwater mussels with very localized distributions, trout; TVA hydroelectric power production facilities on larger rivers
• Agriculture, Industry, Urbanization: pasturage, light industry (except paper mill), logging (extensively deforested in early 1900’s but forests were resilient), limited mining, hydroelectric power production, tourism, road-building; National Forests: Pisgah and Nantahala, National Parks: Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway
• Representative Locations: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in the Nantahala National Forest, Linville Gorge in the Pisgah National Forest, Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain, Jocassee Gorges State Park in Transylvania County

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Piedmont Plateau

Ecosystem types:

• Hardwood Forest: red oak, beech, hickory, maple, yellow poplar; best examples on relatively undisturbed steep slopes
• Mixed Pine/Hardwood Forest: same as above but with Virginia pine and white pine; sites gentle slopes and flats that have been more frequently disturbed
• Pine Plantation: virtual monocultures of Virginia pine, white pine or loblolly pine
• Sandhills: longleaf pine and wiregrass communities on nutrient poor sand hills landforms
• Rock Outcrop and Hemlock Bluff: plant community varies depending upon rock type, soil pH, aspect; typically lichens, mosses, forbs, shrubs; remnant stands of Carolina hemlock on north facing river gorges
• Piedmont Streams: high velocity waters in rapids and boulder fields alternating with stretches of calm low to moderate velocity waters; moderate floodplain development; heavy silt load; fall line is the geologic transition from piedmont to coastal plain, cities situated along fall line to access hydropower and barge traffic
• Reservoirs: artificial water impoundments for water supply and hydroelectric power production; dams are impediments to anadramous and resident fish migration
• Agriculture, Industry, Urbanization: extensively deforested in 1800’s for agricultural production, massive soil erosion resulted; since 1920’s and 1930’s forests have recovered but now are being fragmented by rapidly increasing road building and residential and industrial development; today’s piedmont is the state’s industrial and urban center (textile and furniture industries, high technology, commerce); agricultural development consists of pasturage for livestock, poultry operations, tobacco, limited row crops
• Representative Locations: Eno River State Park, Uwharrie National Forest, Weymouth Woods State Park

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Coastal Plain

Ecosystem types:

• Long-leaf Pine Savanna: one of the most extensive forest types in the Presettlement Southeastern USA (click here to see a map) ,  but it is rare today; dominated almost exclusively by longleaf pine with a wiregrass understory; very high species diversity of herbaceous vegetation (as much as 50 species / m²); fire-tolerant and fire-dependent for regeneration; original forested areas were converted to agricultural production, where forest cover remained long-leaf was replaced by loblolly and hardwoods
• Mixed Pine/Hardwood Forest: loblolly pine, sweetgum, maple, hickory, white oak, water oak, willow oak
• Pine Flatwoods: uneven-aged loblolly pine with deciduous species in understory
• Pine Plantation: even-aged monocultures of loblolly pine, ~50 year rotation
• Pine/Scrub: longleaf pine, turkey oak, wiregrass
• Floodplain Forests: cypress, black gum, green ash, water oak, willow oak,hackberry,
• Pocosin: wetland situated in deep organic soils (peats) dominated by evergreen shrubs (Ericaceae), pond pine, titi, gallberry, and wax myrtle
• Carolina Bays: thousands of shallow elliptical landforms of various sizes but all oriented NE to SW; probably wind and wave scoured Pleistocene formations; vegetation may include pocosins vegetation, also sweet bay, loblolly bay and red bay
• Sea level-controlled Fringing Forests: cypress, maple, tupelo gum along low-salinity fringes of Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds
• Maritime Forest: live oak , red cedar, loblolly pine, wax myrtle located in isolated remnants on Outer Banks and NC sea islands; the northern-most extent of cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto) is on Smith or Baldhead Island in Brunswick County
• Wetlands: the relatively flat and poorly drained topography of the NC coastal plain creates to opportunity for extensive wetland development; there are several wetland types in the coastal plain including: freshwater marshes (cattails and rushes), and forested wetlands (floodplain swamps, fringing swamps, pine flatwoods, and pocosins)
• Coastal Plain Streams: relatively low velocity and low gradient, sand, silt, and organic matter substrates, broad floodplains with levee formations; potentially low DO high BOD during summer; rivers with piedmont source (brown water rivers) have heavier silt and clay load ; rivers entirely within the coastal plain (black water rivers) have reduce silt and clay loads and coarse sand substrates (tea-colored stain due to leached organic compounds)
• Coastal Plain Lakes: these are the only natural lakes in the state; water-filled Carolina Bays (Singletary Lake and Bladen Lakes) or burned pocosins (Lake Mattamuskeet and Lake Phelps)
• Agriculture, Industry, Urbanization: extensive row-crop production on upland soils, intensive livestock production (swine and poultry); light industry, increasingly urbanized in coastal region and near commercial centers
• Representative Locations: Goose Creek State Park, Croatan National Forest, Otter Creek Natural Area (ECU), Carolina Beach State Park

 

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Aquatic Ecosystems

• Coastal Ocean - zone offshore of barrier islands out to edge of continental shelf  (salinity = 35 parts per thousand); Fishes: various tunas, dolphin, jacks, marlin, king macerel, bluefish, groupers, seatrouts, drums, croakers, etc.
• Estuaries - where fresh water from rivers meets with seawater from coastal ocean (salinity = 0 to 35 parts per thousand). Fishes:  spots, croakers, seatrouts, drums, spanish mackerel. Blue crab and shrimp are important commercial invertebrate fisheries
• Wetlands - seagrass meadows, coastal salt marshes (Spartina and Juncus), forested wetlands along rivers, pocosins, fresh water marshes;  Fishes present: killifishes and mosquitofishes
• Rivers - Black water rivers (Black River) and high turbidity surface water rivers (Neuse and Tar/Pamlico);  Fishes: sunfishes,robin, largemouth and small mouth bass.  See: Watershed map of NC
• Lakes - Lake Mattamuskeet - largest natural lake in NC; sunfishes, largemouth bass, gar, herrings
• Reservoirs - Man-made lakes behind dams; sunfishes, gizzard shad, largemouth bass (introduced and non-native species present)

Human changes in NC Ecosystems

• Presettlement ecosystems of NC
• Ecosystems and biodiversity in 1700's
• John Lawson's "A New Voyage to Carolina" (1709)
• Alterations since 1700
• Present day ecosystems and biodiversity
• Threatened, endangered, and extinct species in the state
• Changes in wildlife resources
• Changes in fishery resources
• Changes in forestry resources
• Human Ecology of NC in 1998

Benner, B. and T. McCloud. 1987. Paddlers Guide to Eastern North Carolina. Menasha Ridge Press, Birmingham, AL. 259pp.

Beyer, F. 1991. North Carolina: The Years Before Man: A Geologic History. Carolina Academic Press, Durham NC, 244pp.

de Hart, A. 1996. North Carolina Hiking Trails. Appalachian Mountain Club, Boston.

Duncan, W.H. and M.B. Duncan. 1988. Trees of the Southeastern United States. University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA. 322pp.

Jackson J. B. C.  (and 18 others) et al. 2001.  Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems.  Science. Vol. 293 (27 July 2001): 629-638.

Justice, W.S. and C. R. Bell. 1968. Wild Flowers of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 217pp.

Kephart, H. and J. Casada. 1988. Camping and Woodcraft: A Handbook for Vacation Campers and Travelers in the Wilderness. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN.

Lawson, John. 1709.  A new voyage to Carolina; containing the exact description and natural history of that country: together with the present state thereof and a journal of a thousand miles, travel'd thro' several nations of Indians, giving a particular account of their customs, manners, etc.. Reprinted in 1966.  Readex Microprint Coprporation.   258 pp.

Manooch, C.S. and D. Raver. 1991. Fisherman's Guide: Fishes of the Southeastern United States. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, NC. 362pp.

Martin, W.H., S.G. Boyce, A.C. Echternacht (eds.). 1993. Biodiversity of the Southeastern United States: Lowland Terrestrial Communities. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 502 pp.

Martin, W.H., S.G. Boyce, A.C. Echternacht (eds.). 1993. Biodiversity of the Southeastern United States: Upland Terrestrial Communities. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 373 pp.

National Geographic Society. 1987. Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2nd Edition. The National Geographic Society, Washington. 464pp.

Shafale, M.P. and A.S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the Natural Communities of North Carolina, Third Approximation. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.

Simpson, B. and A.C. Simpson. 1997 Into the Sound Country: A Carolinian's Coastal Plain. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 288pp.

Radford, A. E., H. E. Ahles, and C. R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183pp.

Van Doren, M. (ed.). 1928. Travels of William Bartram. Dover Publications, New York. 414 pp.

Wells, B.W. 1967. The Natural Gardens of North Carolina. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 458pp.
 

Websites

• North Carolina Natural Heritage Program: http://www.heritage.tnc.org/nhp/us/nc/
• National Parks in North Carolina: http://www.nps.gov/parklists/pickstates.html
• North Carolina State Parks: http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/ncparks.html
• National Forests in North Carolina: http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/
• North Carolina Educational Resources: http://www.itpi.dpi.state.nc.us/connectusa/ncweb.html
• Tar River: http://juncus.biology.ecu.edu/tarriver.htm
• North Carolina Geology: http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/usgs/geomap.htm
• The Nature Conservancy (See NC via Locator Map): http://www.tnc.org/involved/nsforms/welcome.html