Pocosin Swamps and Carolina Bays

  Climate mapping and weather are incredibly important when studying the habitat of a region. The selected  l inks show a variety of information that can prove useful to studying Pocosin swamps such as daily temperatures, long-term averages, average precipitation by type, and record temperatures. The NOAA resource on climate normals 2020 show a 30 year average across the United States from 1991-2020. The NOAA National Web Service shows specific averages for cities with day by day information as well. The North Carolina State University weather map displays current temperatures across the entirety of North Carolina. The U.S. Climate Data resource once again shows averages for temperatures but also average precipitation and when record temperatures occurred. Finally, the WeatherSTEM resource shows climate classifications across the state as well as a variety of other information such as geography and long-term trends. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). (2020). ...

       The USDA's Web Soil survey is a fantastic tool for discovering the properties of a soil in a specified area of interest (AOI). This tool can give you wonderful and in-depth information on a wide variety of a soil features such as its setting (topography and parent material), typical profile (composition of each layer), properties and qualities (hydrology, slope, and depth), interpretative groups (land use classification), and minor components. The Web Soil survey is very user friendly, however, the initial navigation of the website can be a little tricky when first learning and the Map Unit Descriptions use a large amount of Soil Sciences jargon. I am personally familiar with this tool and the terminology used from both my education and career, but, for a new user there a plenty of things to learn. Terminology such as the letters for each layer of a soil profile and their meaning, KSAT, land capability classifications, and hydric soil ratings are not common-se...

Google My Maps was very useful for creating this map by creating my areas of study sections with the line draw and polygon creation capabilities. The map shows the total area of study that covers the entire Coastal Plain of North Carolina where Pocosin swamps can generally be found. It also shows specific regions of study that posses an extremely high amount of Pocosin swamps that vary in how intact they are. I will continue to update this map with images and specific locations that will be studied shortly.

 

  The primary purpose of this research is to look at the Pocosin Swamps and Carolina Bays of North Carolina and the unique biodiversity that finds this habitat home. The acidic and nearly perpetually wet conditions of the Pocosin Swamps and Carolina Bays make them home to many unique species such as a variety of carnivorous plants. I find this incredibly unique habitat immensely fascinating and hope this research will better prepare me for a career in this region. In my research I would like to analyze current conservation methods taking place and use a variety of geological mapping tools to draw in depth comparisons that collectively compare the inter-dependent relationships of ecology, geography, geology, and anthropogenic effects taking place in this region. In addition, I would like to further research the hotly debated origin of Carolina Bays and understand how their creation and composition influence their contemporary use and biodiversity. Often, Carolina Bays occur in Pocos...

The importance of biodiversity locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally cannot be overstated. However, for the purpose of this study, local biodiversity and regional diversity will be specifically analyzed in the coastal Pocosin swamps of North Carolina. Local biodiversity is a useful tool because it allows for specific looks at both minor differences in flora and fauna between seemingly identical habitats and helps local regions such as cities or specific parks inventory their own biodiversity and create plans to maximize their flora and fauna. In this study, the nuances between different Pocosin swamps and protected Pocosin swamps will be analyzed.  Regional biodiversity will also play a pivotal role in this study with the analysis of different counties approach to preservation as well as other states that contain Pocosin Swamps and Carolina Bays. Once again analyzing the differences and what has worked as well as biodiversity shifts will be influential in finding key...