The Blue Ridge Parkway issues around three dozen research permits each year, but research isn’t science until the results are shared with the broader community. The Blue Ridge Parkway Science Symposium is one way Parkway research partners can share their results and insights for the understanding and protection of our Parkway. The third occasional Symposium will be offered virtually from 12:30- 4:05 p.m., Tuesday, April 5, and will feature talks about geology, turtles, lichens, bats, rattlesnakes, bees, and other topics. The Symposium is free and though the talks will be scientific, the speakers have been asked to be sure that they give enough background that those who are not specialists in their fields can follow their talks.
Blue Ridge Parkway Research and Science Symposium Schedule
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
12:30 p.m. - Welcome & Introductions
12:40 p.m. - Stream capture along the Linville River as a driver of incision and gorge formation. Brad Johnson, Davidson College, Davidson, N.C.
1 p.m. - Rare Lichens of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Jessica Allen, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA
1:20 p.m. - Monitoring Galax Poaching and an Analysis of Population Trends on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Evan Raskin, National Park Service, Asheville, N.C., Michelle Fonda, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, and Brian Irwin, University of Georgia, Athens
1:40 p.m. - Pollinators of the Blue Ridge Parkway: Elucidating a Trove of Diversity in the Southern Appalachians. Jennifer Geib, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C.
2 p.m. break
2:15 p.m. - Conservation Genetics of Timber Rattlesnake in Western NC. Matt Estep, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C., and John Sealy, NC Timber Rattlesnake Conservation Project
2:35 p.m. - Bog turtle research over 30 years: hydrology, grazing, and habitat quality. Carola A. Haas, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA, et al.
2:55 p.m. - Use of eDNA to find Bog Turtles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. JJ Apodaca, The Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, NC; Hope Killian, Louisa Collins, and Bob Cherry
3:25 p.m. - Right Under our Noses—Endangered Gray Bats in Western North Carolina. Joey A. Weber, Center for Bat Research, Outreach, and Conservation, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, et al.
3:45 p.m. - Racial Segregation on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Erin Krutko Devlin, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia.
4:05 p.m. - Conclusion: Farewell.
Stream capture along the Linville River as a driver of incision and gorge formation
Brad Johnson, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
ABSTRACT: The Blue Ridge Escarpment divides low-gradient west flowing streams from high-gradient east flowing streams in the southern Appalachians. The steeper slopes on the south and east side of the escarpment have a lower base level which provides an opportunity for stream capture from the west-flowing streams on top of the escarpment. The headwaters of the Linville River lie above the Escarpment and the river eventually flows down the face and into the Catawba River system. This suggests the upper portions of the Linville River likely originally flowed towards the west. This is supported by quartzite cobbles found on large terraces along the Toe River - to the west of the Linville River. Quartzite only outcrops to the east of the modern Linville River Valley and so river draining Grandfather Mountain must have originally flowed into the Toe River. Additionally, “hanging” valleys exist to the east of the river indicating a previous gradient that was much lower than the current tributary gradients. The Linville River would have eroded headwardly and captured these east to west flowing rivers. The capture event would have tripled the drainage area of the Linville River. The resulting increase in discharge likely drove incision in what is now Linville Gorge - forcing responses from adjacent hillslopes and tributaries. Broadly, large drainage capture events, including the Linville River and others like it, can create dramatic topography and help maintain the high relief of the ancient escarpment. However, these events are spatially infrequent and preliminary data suggests that smaller, more common drainage captures and reversals likely play a role in escarpment retreat and preservation.
Rare Lichens of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Jessica L. Allen, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA
ABSTRACT: High elevation ecosystems of the southern Appalachian Mountains support diverse and globally unique suites of species, including lichens. In this presentation I will: 1) Introduce a number of rare and threatened lichens that occur in the Southern Appalachians, including on the Blue Ridge Parkway, 2) Discuss the population genetics and microbiome diversity of the rock gnome lichen (Cetradonia linearis), 3) Share species distribution models that suggest that high-elevation, endemics in the southern Appalachians are threatened by climate change, and 4) Describe the outcome of lichen conservation translocation experiments. Synthesis of these diverse perspectives on rare lichens throughout the region suggest that in situ conservation, especially continued protection of the mosaic of protected land throughout western North Carolina, is essential to the continued survival of rare lichens.
Monitoring Galax Poaching and an Analysis of Population Trends on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Evan Raskin, National Park Service, Asheville, NC, Michelle Fonda, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, WV, and Brian Irwin, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
ABSTRACT: Galax (Galax urceolata) is an evergreen herb endemic to the Southeastern US. Its shiny, dark green leaves are used as a filler in the floral industry. Slow-growing and difficult to cultivate at scale, galax leaves are harvested almost exclusively from the wild. A tetraploid form of galax, whose range is more restricted than the common diploid form, is preferentially harvested for its larger leaves. The National Park Service monitors impacts of illegal galax harvesting on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a recent analysis looks at population trends from the past ten years of monitoring data.
Pollinators of the Blue Ridge Parkway: Elucidating a Trove of Diversity in the Southern Appalachians.
Jennifer Geib (1), Paul Super (2), Breana Cook (1), Drew Milavec (1), PJ Coleman (1), Michael T. Holden (1), and Sam Droege (3)
(1) Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
(2)National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Lake Junaluska, NC
(3) USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, Laurel, MD
ABSTRACT: Despite widespread recognition of the importance of pollinators, particularly bees, to the health of natural and agro-ecosystems, data is accumulating that suggests widespread declines of pollinating species in North America. This has motivated increased inventory efforts across the US, particularly where data is sparse. Here we share preliminary data from an inventory implemented primarily by undergraduate students and Citizen Scientists in 2019, aiming to quantify pollinator abundance, diversity, and distributions in the Southern Appalachians, along the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia and North Carolina. We inventoried 15 road-side grassy bays designated as Wildflower Viewing Areas and 45 randomly selected sites from April-September using passive glycol traps and netting surveys. Data thus far has revealed 12 bumble bee (Apidea: Bombus) species, 123 solitary bee species (representing Andrenidae, Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, and Melittidae families), and >60 species of hoverflies (family Syrphidae). Future steps will include occupancy and distribution models for the most common species, as well as studies of environmental factors predicting variation in ecologically important traits. This inventory provides a quality baseline dataset and specimens to be used for comparisons in future decades, particularly as predicted climatic changes become a reality. Findings also demonstrate how involving undergraduate students and Citizen Scientists in research endeavors can result in crucial contributions to our knowledge of native fauna.
Conservation Genetics of Timber Rattlesnake in Western NC.
Matt Estep, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC and John Sealy, NC Timber Rattlesnake Conservation Project
ABSTRACT: The Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is the only rattlesnake of the temperate deciduous forests of eastern North America and faces growing and varied conservation challenges range-wide. These conservation challenges are exacerbated by the reproductive characteristics of female Timber Rattlesnakes which include late age at maturity and infrequent reproduction. The Timber Rattlesnake is extant in 31 states having been extirpated from three and is listed as Endangered or Threatened in twelve. North Carolina lists the Timber Rattlesnake as a Species of Special Concern. The greatest threat to the species in North Carolina is the loss and fragmentation of remaining habitats as a result of anthropocentric encroachment. The mechanism of this threat is the loss of genetic diversity due to population isolation (genetic drift) and inbreeding (loss of heterozygosity) due to decreases in population size from road mortality. Reductions in allelic diversity and heterozygosity are the two major factors determining a population’s likelihood to persist. Few populations in North Carolina are unaffected by these threats yet currently no efforts are underway to evaluate population genetic diversity.
Bog turtle research over thirty years: hydrology, grazing, and habitat quality.
Carola A. Haas (1), Joseph C. Barron II (1), Joseph D. Buckwalter (1), Robert P. Cherry (2), G. Tom Davis (3), Jeffrey B. Feaga (1), Emmanuel A. Frimpong (1), Michael T. Holden (1), Daniel L. McLaughlin (4), Ryan M. Moore (4)
(1) Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
(2) Blue Ridge Parkway, National Park Service retired
(3) Blue Ridge Parkway, National Park Service, Floyd, VA
(4) Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
ABSTRACT: The bog turtle is a small semi-aquatic turtle at risk of declines throughout its range, because of loss and degradation of restricted habitats and illegal harvest. In Virginia, a significant proportion of known sites occur on the Blue Ridge Parkway, allowing a long-term research effort. Since the early 1990s our research on bog turtles has addressed a variety of topics, including the importance of a stable water table and thermal environment, leading to a current focus on how hydrology and livestock grazing influence quality of habitat for nesting and overwintering bog turtles. We report on conditions at a few sites with repeated monitoring, and discuss collaborations with NPS and Virginia state agency employees. We report on some suggestions for implementing monitoring protocols that would allow better estimates of bog turtle population sizes (accounting for challenges in detection) as well as assessment of habitat conditions.
Use of eDNA to find Bog Turtles on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
JJ Apodaca, Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, NC, Hope Killian and Louisa Collins, Tangled Bank Conservation, NC, and Bob Cherry, National Park Service (retired), Boone, NC
ABSTRACT: The bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii), classified as “Critically Endangered” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, has been dramatically affected by habitat loss and fragmentation. Although the southern population of this species is federally (Threatened S/A, USFWS 2001) and state listed (GA-E, NC-T, SC-T, TN-T, VA-E), it continues to decline. This decline is at least partially due to limited resources and a lack of site-specific information and management plans for the species. Their cryptic nature makes it difficult for land managers to identify new sites and manage active populations. Given the degree of habitat loss and degradation that has occurred and continues to occur in bog turtle habitat in the Southeast, it is critical that we identify active bog turtle sites and develop management plans to help ensure long-term sustainability of these populations. Bog turtle surveys are typically done by a combination of visual searches, trapping, or by probing in the mud with a wooden dowel. Unfortunately, finding a turtle is not an easy task and it can take hours of survey efforts to locate turtles in small populations at isolated sites. The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to survey for bog turtles along the Blue Ridge Parkway is a method that could help make surveys for the species along the Parkway (and beyond) more feasible and efficient on a regular basis. In this study we surveyed 37 potential and historic bogs across the BLRP. In total we ran 711 eDNA samples and detected bog turtles at 22 sites.11 of the sites have historic records and 11 are novel sites. Many of these sites are likely remnant and small populations, but knowing they are present will allow the NPS to focus on the management of this imperiled species.
Right Under our Noses—Endangered Gray Bats in Western North Carolina.
Joey A. Weber (1), K.l. Caldwell-Etchison (2), C.W. Nicolay (3), C.R. Rossell, Jr. (3), B.L. Walters (1), Joy M. O’Keefe (4)
(1) Center for Bat Research, Outreach, and Conservation, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN
(2) North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Raleigh, NC
(3) University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville NC
(4) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
ABSTRACT: Until recently, federally endangered gray bats (Myotis grisescens) were considered rare visitors to western North Carolina; summer captures were assumed to be on foraging excursions from maternity sites in Tennessee. However, after finding a gray bat roosting on the Blue Ridge Parkway we detected additional gray bats roosting in 7 bridges and 1 culvert in the French Broad River (FBR) basin in NC in 2016–2017. Thus, in 2018, we began a multi-year study of the distribution and roosting/foraging ecology of gray bats in the FBR basin. We surveyed bridges, culverts, and used radio telemetry (by car and via telemetry towers) to track 211 bats (134 female, 77 male) to find new roosts and foraging sites. We deployed acoustic monitoring stations along 15 large streams and rivers in the FBR basin. New roosts included bridges, culverts, buildings, sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) trees, and known cave roosts in TN; most were along major waterways in the FBR basin. Tracked bats tended to move along the N-S axis of the FBR while foraging. However, acoustic data show gray bats are distributed across the basin. Applying a combination of methods and focusing on major waterways, we significantly advanced our understanding of the distribution of these endangered bats in Western North Carolina.
Racial Segregation on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Erin Krutko Devlin, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA
ABSTRACT: This presentation will address the segregation of NPS visitor facilities before World War II, and the impact of this policy on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The presentation will address how segregation impacted the development of specific park structures and cultural landscapes, and shaped the visitor experience.