North Carolina Wetlands with Kristie Gianopulos

Please join us to learn about North Carolina Wetlands as speaker Kristie Gianopulos describes the functions of wetlands in North Carolina as well as the wetland types we have and their associated plant species. Kristie is a co-founder and current board member of the Carolina Wetlands Association and has worked as a wetland scientist for the NC Division of Water Resources for the past nine years, dealing with various EPA grant funded projects across the state. Most recently she has co-authored, with Milo Pyne and Karen Kendig, the book, GUIDE TO COMMON WETLAND PLANTS OF NORTH CAROLINA, available (free download) at https://www.ncwetlands.org/plantguide/ ; It is being published by the NC Division of Water Resources. Prior to working in North Carolina, she worked in wetland and endangered species consulting for a dozen years in Florida where she obtained her Master’s Degree in herpetology. Kristie enjoys combining her love for visual design, photography, and science in her work. Carolina wetlands are diverse habitats found across the coastal plain, piedmont, and mountain regions of North and South Carolina. Wetlands are transitional areas where land meets water near streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries, or in low-lying flat areas or natural depressions in the landscape. The depth and duration of waterlogging combined with landscape position are key factors in determining when wetland soils develop and which plant species inhabit them to create a wetland community. Where to find good examples of North Carolina wetland types: Mountain bog Examples: Panthertown Valley bog (Nantahala NF); White Oak Bottoms; Cold Prong Pond (Blue Ridge Pkwy); Uwharries National Forest Riverine forest wetland Examples: Boone’s Cave County Park; New Hope Bottomlands Trail; Jordon gamelands; Roanoke River gamelands Seep wetland Examples: Battle Park (Rocky Mount); Calloway Forest Preserve (Raeford); Kellogg Conference Center (Hendersonville) Freshwater marsh Examples: Richardson Taylor Preserve; Tanglewood Park; Nat Greene Trail; Salem Lake wetlands Basin Examples: Croatan National Forest, Carolina Beach State Park Pocosin Examples: Suggs Millpond Gameland, Green Swamp, Posocin Lakes NWR, Croatan National Forest Carolina Bay Examples: Jones Lake State Park, Pettigrew State Park, Lake Waccamaw State Park Pine wetland Examples: Green Swamp Nature Preserve, Weymouth Woods State Park, Pee Dee NWR, Goose Creek State Park, Sandhills Gamelands Estuarine woody wetland Examples: Cedar Point Tideland Trail, Swanquarter NWR Bell Island Pier, Fort Macon State Park Salt marsh Examples: Fort Fisher SRA &”The Rocks”; Lee’s Nature Park (Wrightsville); Hammocks Beach SP Brackish marsh Examples: Lawson Creek Park (New Bern); Goose Creek State Park; Sturgeon City (Jacksonville), Roanoke Island Marshes Game Land, Oak Island Relevant Links: 2021 Guide to Common Wetland Plants of North Carolina: https://www.ncwetlands.org/plantguide/ Interactive map of public wetlands in North Carolina: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/... https://www.ncwetlands.org/findpublic... Searchable table of public wetlands in North Carolina https://www.ncwetlands.org/findpublic... General wetland information, including downloadable factsheets, teacher resources, graphics: https://www.ncwetlands.org/learn/ Carolina Wetlands Association: http://carolinawetlands.org/ Carolina Wetlands Association - Wetland Treasures map and factsheets http://carolinawetlands.org/index.php...