Schedule and Program - North Carolina Academy of Science

Assessment of Secondary Ecosystem Succession in Hoke County, NorthCarolina.Zachary Barthel*, Caleb Sutton, Doshie Smith, Leon Jernigan, and Ryan EmanuelUniversity of North Carolina at Pembroke and NCSUTo assess ecosystem succession in the coastal plain region of North Carolina we used Lidar remote sensingcombined with ground-based measurements. Our site was located on private property in Hoke County, NC.In 2010, a total of 14 permanent 20x20-m Plots were established throughout three stand types: pine, pineplantation, and deciduous wetlands. Age and height of the three largest trees in each plot were determined usingan increment borer and hypsometer, respectively. Trees were identified to species and the diameter at breastheight was measured, using a diameter tape, for species with a diameter > 5 cm. To learn about the productivitywithin stands, leaf area index (LAI) was measured using a LAI 2000 plant canopy analyzer. These measurementsin combination with lidar-based stand characteristics offer an insight into how secondary succession progressesin the coastal plain. Results show that the deciduous wetland stands have greater species richness than the pineand pine plantation stands. This may be the result of moisture differences or suppression of hardwood invasionin the pine and pine plantation stands due to the regular burning and pine straw harvesting. Older stands in thepine and the deciduous wetland forests had a greater total basal area than the younger stands. Data suggests thatsecondary succession in the forests of this region vary according to topography and local management practices.The data from this study can be combined with data from the mountains and the piedmont to obtain a picture ofsuccession throughout the state.The role of head shape evolution in an adaptive radiation of salamandersDavid A. Beamer and Trip LambNash Community CollegeMicrohabitat partitioning amongst Desmognathus species involves a size component, with very large speciesbeing aquatic and small species being terrestrial. However the mid-sized species range from aquatic to terrestrialand some species demonstrate microhabitat shifts in different portions of their range or when they are foundsympatrically with congeners. I investigated head shape with size independent geometric morphometrictechniques. A MANOVA of head shape variables found highly significant differences between populationsoccupying different microhabitats. Discriminant analysis was able to correctly classify microhabitat based on thehead shape variables 64% of the time. These results suggest that head shape is correlated with microhabitat. Sincelineages do not represent independent data points I used independent contrasts to control for phylogeny andfound a significant correlation between three of the head shape variables and microhabitat.Campbell University - 33