Kristie Gianopulos

Wetland condition assessment is often performed by land managers, federal and local governments, and conservation organizations to document current condition and potentially take action to protect or restore valuable wetland resources. These condition assessments often include data collection or surveys of biotic communities such as vegetation, mac...

Worldwide, interest is growing in the reliability of using macroinvertebrates as wetland condition indicators and for signaling restoration or mitigation success. We compared macroinvertebrate community structure and environmental parameters of reference sites to restoration sites, representing re-establishment and enhancement techniques. To determ...

This fully illustrated guide provides information for identifying over 200 species of plants commonly found in North Carolina's mountain, piedmont, and coastal plain wetlands. It is designed for anyone interested in the state's wetland flora and contains: 1) organization by plant type, 2) key features to look for, along with similarities and differ...

This project tested whether rapid floristic quality indices can be used in North Carolina's diverse wetland types, given the many cost-saving benefits that can be realized from using such indices. Vegetation plot data from 2030 North Carolina wetland plots were analyzed to test how well two floristic quality assessment indices, based on cover-domin...

Study of macroinvertebrate communities in restored, re-established, and reference wetlands in the sandhills and coastal plain of North Carolina.

Results of amphibian research on restored, re-established, and reference wetlands in North Carolina sandhills and coastal plain.

Aquatic biota such as amphibians and macroinvertebrates are a vital to every wetland ecosystem, as they provide important links between lower and upper trophic levels. Many macroinvertebrates convert organic plant material into animal biomass, which in turn feeds larval amphibians, aquatic insects, fish, and birds. Economically important fish and b...

Results from the Southeast Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Intensification Study with North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia to Assess Forested Wetland Condition

Results from the Southeast Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Intensification Study with North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia to Assess Forested Wetland Condition

Description of various grant projects that the NC DWR wetlands group has worked on, and events that led to the founding of the Carolina Wetlands Association

presentation on methods and results for the Southeast region wetlands monitoring intensification grant (from the EPA)

This project was an extension of the EPA’s 2011 National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA), and was conducted in 2012. North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama were awarded an Intensification grant from the EPA to perform a regional wetland assessment that would add to the EPA’s NWCA, but at a regional level, not just a state level. Georgia al...

The USARAM is divided into a number of metrics, each with its own focus (Table below). Each metric was evaluated and, following the EPA's lead on summary scores, assigned a meaningful numeric value. This was with the intention of ultimately generating a single summary numeric value for the USARAM whereby sites could be ranked or rated. It also allo...

Webinar given to the Southeast Wetlands Workgroup introducing a Floristic Quality Index online calculator for Southeast wetlands

description of validation of North Carolina’s wetland rapid assessment method

Floristic quality assessment is a recognized technique for assessing habitat quality of wetland sites. The Floristic Quality Index (FQI), the most widely used metric in floristic quality assessment for wetland and terrestrial ecosystems, employs a measure of conservatism (Coefficient of Conservatism) along with richness of a plant community to deri...

In Florida, forested wetland systems are protected by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), water management districts, and various local ordinances. Impacts are highly discouraged because forested wetlands provide important wetland and wildlife functions. As compensation for unavoidable impacts, the...

Florida scrub habitat is highly endangered because of high demand for land for agriculture and real estate. Maintenance of remaining patches of Florida scrub habitat requires active management. We experimentally investigated the effects of clear-cutting and burning on sand skink populations in three patches of sand pine scrub. Each patch included a...

This presentation is based on my Master’s thesis on sand skinks and other herpetofaunal species, and was given as partial fulfillment of my degree program at the University of South Florida in 2001. My major professors were Henry Mushinsky and Earl McCoy.

Florida scrub habitat is a naturally fire maintained habitat that is highly endangered because of high demand for land for agriculture and real estate. Maintenance of remaining patches of Florida scrub habitat requires active management. We experimentally investigated the effects of clearcutting and burning on sand skink populations in three patche...