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In this photo we see a couple of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) who were just swimming in the pond over by the Recreation center on UNCW's campus. Interestingly enough they actually migrate to regions of the US that are free of ice for the winter. Wilmington is in a region that rarely gets snow or ice so it makes a great environment for these ducks. These ducks are a good example of conditions and resources because Wilmington has warmer conditions during the winter for the Hooded Merganser and these conditions also allow them to find resources more easily, like food and mates.
UNCW 2012 Spring Senior Exhibition
April 12 - May 12, 2012
opening reception: Thursday, April 12, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
commencement reception: Saturday, May 12, 3:30 p.m.
UNCW Art Gallery
Randall Parkway & Reynolds Drive
Wilmington, NC
M-F, 12 - 4
910.972.7958
UNCWartgallery@gmail.com
Merryn Kepchar, Zachary Burkhart, Elizabeth McAdams, Laura Erickson, Timmons Mervin, Zach Feutz, Blair Nidds, Joshua Gomez, Anne Seay, Katie Hare, Stephanie Stull, Chad Harrell, Ryan Terry, Sam Hilker, Brooks McGibbony
UNCW Seamen host Easterns Qualifier 2023 at North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex. Little River, South Carolina, Saturday, February 25, 2023.
UNCW Surf Club member, Kevin Kingston, on a nice Playa Grande wave during a club trip to Costa Rica. March 2004
This photo was taken in my backyard in Farmington, NC. It has been drier than normal and you can see how certain plant species have better adapted to the drier climate than others by the patches of green versus the patches of yellow and brown.
Taken on January 22nd in the woods behind Seahawk Village at UNCW. I could not identify the exact species, but these are clearly oyster shells. Oyster shells are not commonly found inland especially away from bodies of water with high salinity. However, these empty shells were found in this environment, which is not their habitat. They appear to be fairly recently placed here, indicating that someone probably discarded these after consuming the oysters themselves. The person consumed the oysters as an energy source.
I took this photo of a fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) on Wednesday, February 15th in the Remnant Forest on UNCW's Campus during my afternoon lab period. I spotted it while my lab group and I were walking to part B from part C of the forest. It was a fairly quick encounter: the squirrel scurried around my group members and I for a bit, close enough to observe us but far enough away to maintain its safety. At one point, as shown in the photo, it had a quick snack (their diet varies, but I think at the time it was eating an acorn, or something of the like), but soon after it fled into the thick of the forest away from us. My lab instructor spoke briefly in one of her recent lectures about fox squirrels and how we might be fortunate enough to see one in the Remnant Forest, and we were! Fox squirrels are unique in several different ways, but I find their larger size particularly interesting. Aside from being very cute and cat-sized (they are identified as North America's biggest species of tree squirrels), fox squirrels are also known to dwell on the ground more so than other tree squirrels and have distinct geographical fur coloration phases. Fox squirrels in the Southeast tend to be brown/black with white accents. In some areas they are more brown-yellow with orange-ish undersides, which can sometimes cause people to mistake them for American red squirrels. Fox squirrels do not have any sexual dimorphism in size or coloration, so I am unsure whether the squirrel I photographed was a female or male.
Sources:
Members of the UNCW Surf Club's team pose with trophies won at the Terrapin Collegiate Surf Contest. Ocean City, MD, October 2006.
Taxodium distichum, the baldcypress, was one of the new organisms that I interacted with when moving down to North Carolina. This picture was snapped one sunny warm February day on White Lake, NC. The baldcypress’ seeds, that remarkably can still germinate up to one year after dropping from a mature tree, by both water and animals. In this picture one can see a bundle of lake debris around the base of the tree. That lake rubbish is caught in the root system of the cypress which shoots out of the water near the apex of the trunk. This anomaly has puzzled scientists for years; so much so that there are many hypotheses about them. The most common reasoning for these enigmas is, because knees are more often found to be on trees that are in shallow water areas or wet ground, they might be caused by the root growing in a poorly aerated soil. We learned in class that plants use both photosynthesis and respire. Oxygen for respiration in the plants must be taken in by all plant cells in order for those cells to break down carbohydrates and get the energy it needs to grow. We talked in class about the idea that organisms possess trade-offs; an organism can not perfectly adapt to its environment. The baldcypresses likely underwent a trade-off when its’ root system to form in knees; shunting its efforts to grow large roots instead of growing many leaves. This is a trade-off all plants must undergo and find balance to in order to survive. #image2 #UNCW #bio366
arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2000-60-4-cyp...
www.growstone.com/2012/01/the-importance-of-aeration-to-s...
Members of the UNCW Surf Club's team pose for a group photo at Wrightsville Beach. Spring 2006. Courtesy: Peter Fritzler
Wisteria sinesis is an invasive flowering vine that originates from China. This vine is part of the legume family and was brought to the United States by a Chinese native for decorative purposes. This species has a reported range along the east coast of the United States and as far west as Texas. While climbing trees around Greenfield lake in Wilmington NC I noticed a couple of hanging bean pods. Upon further research I identified these pods as belonging to the wisteria vine. The bean pod looking objects are the fruit of the wisteria plant and act as the seed dispersal method. This invasive species wraps its vines around the trees and foliage nearby completely encompassing them until they are no longer able to sequester the necessary needs for the organism to survive. When the wisteria kills the trees it opens up the forest coverage and allows more light to penetrate the lower areas that were once covered by leaves. In turn opening several bean pods because they're now exposed to more light continuing the invasive process.
Chuck Collins, Manager of Wrightsville Glassing, provides a demonstration of the APS 3000 shaping machine. February 2009. Courtesy: Peter Fritzler
ITA Carolinas Women's Regional 2013
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center
UNC Chapel Hill, NC
10/18/2013
UNCW ITA101813 DJ9Q4209
Wetlands and swamp ecosystems have the highest rate of net primary production of all terrestrial ecosystems (Ricklefs 2007). This is the total production after all respiration from autotrophs are subtracted from the gross primary production. The higher temperaturea and high amounts of precipitation aids the wetlands phototrophs in such high level of productivity and the often anoxic soil allows for organic matter to accumulate and keep enough nutrients for productivity.
UNCW Alumni gather at Hoggard lawn for the annual Tealgate during Homecoming weekend January 30, 2016. PHOTO BY: JEFF JANOWSKI/UNCW
Members of the UNCW Surf Club pose in front of the club's float prior to the homecoming parade. Courtesy: Peter Fritzler
UNCW Scholarship donors and recipients gather at the Burney Center on the UNCW campus for the Scholarship Donor Appreciation Dinner on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. PHOTO BY: ERIN WHITTLE/UNCW
This picture was taken in downtown Wilmington near-ish to low tide. The reeds shown are decaying, as are any microorganisms left on the rocks from where the water receded. This decay is an important step in the biochemical cycle of elements like carbon, hydrogen, and sulfur.
Pictured here is an image I took in the pine forest around UNCW. Pine forest shave a significant ecological role, they are home to a wide variety of plants and animals. What I find interesting about this image was the way that these species appear to be growing. From what I observed all of the species in this image appeared to still be living despite not being upright. There are several different reasons that could cause them to grow this way. The first being weather. Strong winds could cause certain species to grow on an angle, however I do not believe this is the case here as there are many trees in the surrounding area that could lessen the wind force. Another cause could be the amount of light that the plants receive. A lack of sunlight could effect growth. Something else that caught my attention was the white markings on the tree trunk. Based off of my limited plant knowledge I have guessed that it is an oak of some sort. After some research I do believe that the markings are either a type of fungus or mold.
I saw this Buck Moth larvae; Hemileuca maia, in its foraging and growth stage at Carolina Beach State Park on May 19th. Buck moths cover a range spanning the entire eastern US. This species is easy to identify because of its red head and the abundance of black spines covering its body. These venomous spines act as both a constitutive defense and a chemical defense for the larvae while in this stage in its life. Contact with the spines should be avoided and is known to cause redness and swelling in humans for several days.
Source: (Barrier Island Ecology UNCW, 2015)
sites.google.com/site/barrierislandecology2013/impacts-of...
The official UNCW Surf Club float in action during the university's homecoming parade. Courtesy: Peter Fritzler
This photo was taken Monday January 2nd on UNCW's cleared trail behind The Landing. The subject of this photo is the soil mound. This mound was created when the trail was cleared and now serves as a habitat for several species of plants. Of these plants I was able to identify a species of knotweed (genus Polygonum). I also identified dead crabgrass (Digitaria) which seemed to originally cover the mound.In this case the knotweed is able to act as an invasive species upon the crabgrass's habitat because of it's niche. This is better explained using Hutchinson's theory of an N-Dimensional Hypervolume. While both organisms thrive in the high moisture conditions of the mound, knotweed is able to survive in colder winter temperatures. While temperatures remain colder,
the knotweed population will continue to multiply. When spring comes and crabgrass seeds are no longer dormant, crabgrass's realized niche will be lowered to eliminate competition with the knotweed.
UNCW Alumni gather at Hoggard lawn for the annual Tealgate during Homecoming weekend January 30, 2016. PHOTO BY: NEKIRA WOODSBURY/UNCW
UNCW Surf Team members at the Terrapin Collegiate Surf Contest. The team traveled to OC in limousine style courtesy of SOD Surfboards. Ocean City, MD, October 2006.
This picture was taken at UNCW. The elements of ecology in this photo consist of the trees obtaining sunlight, which helps them photosynthesize. They take in carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen that we breathe. Trees also provide many other ecological benefits, such as supporting a vast array of other species. Trees can also improve air quality, conserve water, and preserve soil. They are very important for us and the environment.
UNCW Seamen host Fall Easterns at University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Wilmington, North Carolina, Sunday, November 6, 2022.
I found what I believe to be Cerrena unicolor, otherwise known as Mossy Maze Polypore, in the woods behind Carleton Place (near the Seahawk villages). This species of fungi thrives on wood decay and the dead tree was consumed by the fungi which lead to white rot causing the wood to become soft and damp. The most interesting relationship this species has with its environment is its interaction with a type of wood-boring wasp. The spores are carried with the wasp's eggs and the fungi germinates.
UNCW alumni, faculty and staff celebrate Homecoming at TEALgate on the Hoggard Lawn prior to the basketball game on Saturday February 4, 2017. PHOTO BY: ERIN WHITTLE/UNCW
This photo was taken underneath a tree on the UNCW campus. Everything that dies here and falls from the trees gathers on the ground, creating the soil's O layer. These dead organic compounds may become nutrients for detrivores like mushrooms, and eventually this layer will decompose into the A layer of the soil, which will nourish plants and funguses growing here. This process is crucial to ecology and ensures that carbon and nutrients are continuously cycled within the ecosystem.
This is a Turkey Oak or Qucerus Laevis was found near Friday Hall on the UNCW campus. Turkey Oak typically grows in Longleaf Pine forests and can withstand dry environments which makes it found in infertile sandhill or pine forest ennvironments. Turkey Oak is typically associated with Longleaf Pines, Bluejack Oak, and Sand Oak. Periodic burning can help the Turkey Oak thrive, vigorous sprouting occurs after a burn. Burning is effective because most of the biomass of the Turkey Oak is underground, which makes killing the top layer cause it to sprout quickly. Turkey Oaks are typically small trees with thick, ridged bark.
UNCW takes on Delaware Blue Hens for UNCW's 2017 Homecoming weekend February 4, 2017. PHOTO BY: JEFF JANOWSKI/UNCW
Members of the UNCW Surf Club pose for a group photo during a tour of Wrightsville Glassing, one of the premier surfboard manufacturing facilities in southeastern North Carolina. February 2009. Courtesy: Peter Fritzler
This photo was taken on Wednesday February 21, 2018 by the pond adjacent to the Student Recreation Center on the UNCW campus. Pictured is what I think to be a Great Egret, Ardea alba, from the source listed below. The Great Egret is a carnivorous bird preying mostly on smaller animals such as frogs, crayfish, snakes, snails and fish. They, along with many other North American bird species, were almost hunted to extinction in the early twentieth century. They were hunted not for their meat, but their feathers for fashion. It seems that in the picture and with observing the bird, it was looking for food. The bird was still, only moving its head to look around or down possibly for food.
All About Birds. (2018). How to Identify White Herons—Excerpt from "Better Birding" Book. [online] Available at: www.allaboutbirds.org/how-to-identify-white-herons-excerp....
Nhptv.org. (2018). Great Egret - Ardea alba - NatureWorks. [online] Available at: www.nhptv.org/natureworks/greategret.htm.
Decomposition occurred to the corpse of this bear’s head that I found in the woods of Virginia on February 17, 2017. Decomposition is the process where non-living organic substances changes its arrangements or break down to smaller matter. Decomposition is a part of the nutrient cycle but in order for the plants to uptake the nutrients, they have to be released from the organic matter.
Decomposition takes place in three stages. Detritivores, small organisms that feed on dead organic matter, bacteria, and fungi are always required to break down the dead organic matter. The first active stage of decomposition is leaching by water. Leaching removes loose compounds like sugars and free amino acids. The second stage is fragmentation by animals. The surface are of the detritus for microbial colonization is made possible my animals like worms, rodents, and wood lice that assist in breaking down more loose fractions. The third stage of decomposition is chemical breakdown. Microbes break down compounds that are resistant to change. Without detritivores and decomposers, decomposition is nearly impossible. Eventually, mineralization occurs and organic matter material is transformed into inorganic material. Now, the nutrients are available for plants to use.
Sources:
aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/landscape/dont-bag-...
This was my first office space when I arrived as a new assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
UNCW Seamen compete at Fish Bowl 2023, held at University Park, on the James Madison University campus, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Saturday, March 4, 2023. The Seamen went undefeated and took the championship.
This image marks the start of the Summer 2018 Ecophoto project for the BIO366 Ecology Lecture at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. You can learn more about the EcoPhoto project at people.uncw.edu/borretts/courses/bio366/ecophoto.pdf.
This photo of two mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) was taken outside of Friday Hall. The ducks are enjoying this large puddle that collected after a rainstorm. As this species is known to be mostly monogamous, these mallards are most likely a mated pair. The area of the puddle is its own small habitat, with a unique microclimate, because the ground is occasionally under water when it rains enough. The plant species that gather here must be able to withstand this periodic flooding.
UNCW Cameron School of Business Alumni, faculty and students gather at Oceanic Restaurant at Wrightsville Beach for the CSB Mixer on Thursday, September 28, 2017. PHOTO BY: ERIN WHITTLE/UNCW
This picture of a snake was taken at Halyburton park. This snake is difficult to identify, but it is most likely a rat snake (elaphe obsoletus). It was sunning itself on a dirt path hidden within a small forest of long leaf pines (pinus pallustrus) . When I found it, it took shelter behind the branches of several species of shrubs where I was no longer able to reach it. The tangled branches along the sides of the path provide the perfect habitat where the snake can escape potential threats. #uncwecology #uncw
#ecology
The photo reveals the leaves and fruits of the Carolina Holly with the picture taken from the UNCW campus. This species is commonly dispersed in the southeastern coastal region of the United States, primarily because this holly grows well in sandy soils. So as to their dispersion pattern, these hollies tend to hug to the coast from North Carolina down to Texas.
Here we can observe the defense mechanism this plant had used to defend itself from herbivores; with it's genetically modified spines at the edge of the leaf. The hard coating and the thorny spine deters herbivores who may have chomped on this form of leaf once, or it's recent cousins, and does not want to experience the ordeal. So, in a sense, mimicry the Carolina holly could be employing some sort of mimicry that not only serves to defend itself, but to warn others that it is just as deadly as it's cousins. Another interesting note is that some of the spines of the leaf seems to be less threatening than other leaves. This may be due to the environment at which the holly grew in. Seeing as there is no herbivores running about in the campus chomping on the leaves, the investment of creating really sharp thorns seems to have lessen in value. A trade-off in energy for something else, such as a larger surface area of the leaf to capture more sunlight. For this reason, one might find that one holly plant has different forms of modified leaves, some very narrow and sharp, while others broad and dull.
Then at last there is the fruiting body, which seems to contradict the reason for leaves. If the holly wants to disperse it's seeds by presenting what seems to be appetizing fruits (unless the coloration of red is to ward off predators) why would it set up defensive guards to deter animals from eating fruits? Say a bird is attracted to the bright red fruit of the holly, it's going to have to dig through the thorny leaves to get to the fruit, potentially discouraging the bird's venture. Perhaps the holly's intention is to disperse the fruit by letting it ripen to maturity afterwards falling onto the ground, but this method does not allow for a dispersion, as the seed is in the same soil as the parent. Maybe the holly plant is testing their consumers, by providing obstacles in the way of the fruit so that the strongest animal, which are more likely to survive or travel, may be capable of digging through the leaves to obtain the fruit; which would put the seeds inside the digestive tract of a strong animal.
Why some leaves on the holly plant is prickly while others are not:
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/121220-holly-leaves...
Why holly plants are prickly: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/9740540/Why-is-h...
Classification of the holly plant: www.thespruce.com/eighteen-species-holly-trees-and-shrubs...