Browsing by Subject "longleaf pine"
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Item Open Access Efficacy of Monitoring Management Activities in Longleaf Pine in North Carolina Using Remote Sensing(2019-12-10) Leung, EmilyUsing remote sensing as a tool to monitor forest management intervention may reduce the time and funds needed to actively visit landscapes. However, previous research typically studied the effects of large-scale disturbances, such as wildfires, to demonstrate the efficacy of using vegetation indices to track forest change. To better understand the limitations of these indices, Landsat 8 NDVI and NBRT values were calculated for 99 management units consisting of longleaf pine stands under stewardship of The Nature Conservancy of North Carolina. These units were across nine preserves held by TNC, in the Coastal Plain region of North Carolina. To assess change, indices values before and after management activity were compared, as well as indices values in management units with and without management intervention. These values were significant, but the changes were minimal. Linear mixed models were created to test the explanatory power that time since treatment, seasonality, treatment size, basal area, treatment type, and preserve locality had on the change in NDVI or NBRT. While these variables failed to explain the changes in indices values post-intervention, a variety of other factors may potentially express the reduction in NDVI or NBRT: other vegetative growth, climate variability, and the scale of the data may influence these indices’ results. As such, while the mixed models did not find these management characteristics explanatory, that alone does not reject the thesis that remote sensing may be useful for monitoring fine-scale change. Further study and extended data collection may prove useful.Item Open Access Low Water Bridge Preserve: Comprehensive Management Plan Prepared for the LandTrust for Central North Carolina(2013-04-26) Vasto, AliciaIn the face of non-native invasive species, historical land use change, and non-point source pollution, natural areas are often in need of active management in order to maintain biodiversity, habitat quality, and the ability to provide ecosystem services. The LandTrust for Central North Carolina owns the 1,288-acre Low Water Bridge Preserve in northern Montgomery County. This property has high conservation value due to its river frontage, buffer quality, rare plants and animals, and other conservation factors. The goal of this project was to provide detailed recommendations for the property’s unique features. Historical and scientific research as well as field studies were conducted over the past year in order to provide practical recommendations for property management. Included in this project are restoration plans for three loblolly plantations, recommendations for the protection and propagation of a unique Eastern white pine stand, recreational recommendations, and recommendations for an abandoned quartz quarry. Additionally, a streamside salamander survey was conducted in order to establish a baseline of species richness. Finally, a long-term strategy for the future of the property is discussed. This management plan focused on ways to enhance Low Water Bridge Preserve while staying true to the LandTrust’s mission to conserve Piedmont natural history and offer recreational opportunities.Item Open Access Prescribed Fire: Balancing Public Health and Land Management Goals(2022-05-22) Oakley, DanielFire is a critical component of many natural disturbance regimes in the southeastern United States; however, a century of fire suppression policies has disrupted many such regimes and severely degraded ecosystems throughout the region. Today land managers use prescribed fire to restore ecosystems, but the sudden increase in burning has raised concerns over public health. Smoke from fire adds fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to the atmosphere, which is linked to a myriad of negative health outcomes. This study seeks to identify areas with high smoke sensitivity across the southeastern U.S. and quantify the costs and benefits of using prescribed fire in these areas. Combining a variety of ecological, epidemiological, and economic models using geographic information systems, I found that using prescribed fire does negatively impact public health. Nonetheless, this impact is dwarfed by the negative impact of wildfires, which are more likely to occur if fire is excluded from fire-dependent ecosystems. I recommend land managers continue to use prescribed fire for maintaining ecosystem functions, but to minimize smoke dispersion over local and regional sensitive areas.Item Open Access The Re-introduction of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker to the Green Swamp Preserve: A Management Plan(2010-04-27T17:56:08Z) DiLuzio, NicholasThe red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW; Picoides borealis), a once common bird in the southeastern U.S., is now a federally-listed endangered species. The decline of the RCW can be attributed to loss of the pine savannas that serve as critical RCW habitat as a result of commercial logging and the removal of fire from the southeastern landscape. The prevalence of commercial logging in the southeast has greatly reduced the number of old-aged pines in which RCWs construct their nest cavities. By restoring longleaf pine savannas, returning fire to the southeastern landscape, and the construction of artificial nest cavities, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, as well as numerous state and private agencies, are working to restore the RCW to historic population levels. The Green Swamp is a 16,424 acre preserve owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Brunswick County, North Carolina. All that remains of the once viable RCW population in the Green Swamp Preserve are a few abandoned cavities and the occasional lone male. This plan examines the current condition of the Green Swamp Preserve to determine if the preserve can once again support a viable RCW population, as well as the fire and timber management practices associated with the RCW reintroduction. After sampling 12 potential cluster sites for tree DBH, age, basal area, and understory height and density, it was determined that the Green Swamp can eventually support 10 RCW clusters. Two of the sites sampled do not meet the minimum habitat requirements laid out in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife RCW Recovery plan, thus are not considered cluster sites. Of the 10 suitable cluster sites, 4 sites require only minimal management before RCWs can be introduced. The remaining 6 cluster sites have substantial hardwood midstory and/or areas with very high basal area that must be removed before RCWs can be re-introduced.