Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CAHA) serves several vital functions in shorebird conservation; it provides breeding habitat, important stop-over areas for migrating birds, and wintering habitat for a variety of species. Shorebirds are key components of coastal ecosystems and a primary reason for visitation by many visitors. Several species of special conservation concern use CAHA for some part of the year, including piping plover (Charadrius melodus), red knot (Calidris canutus), American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliates), and Wilson's plover (Charadrius wilsonia). These four species...

The Southeastern U.S. is host to one of the most diverse amphibian communities in the world. With an estimated 140 amphibian species, more than half of which are salamanders, the Southeast accounts for about half of the total number of amphibians in the U.S. (Echternacht & Harris 1993, Petranka 1998). The Southeast Coast Network (SECN) consists of 20 National Parks that encompass more than 184,000 acres of federally-managed land throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Sixty-one amphibian species are confirmed to occur in SECN parks; 26 in Caudata, and 35 in...

Birds are an important component of park ecosystems, and their high body temperature, rapid metabolism, and high ecological position in most food webs make them a good indicator of the effects of local and regional changes in ecosystems. Long-term trends in the community composition, relative abundance, distribution, and occurrences of breeding-bird populations provide a measure for assessing the ecological integrity and sustainability in southeastern systems. Further, long-term patterns of these attributes in relation to changes in the structural diversity of vegetation resulting from fire...