ELIZABETH
CITY STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Faculty
Research Assistants
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Southern Shores Vegetation Survey
The information can be used as baseline information in efforts to protect and conserve the abundance, distribution and ecological function of the natural vegatative communities present in this community.
Project
Objective:
-
Provide a Geographic
Information System (GIS) map of the vegetative communities present in the
community
of Southern Shores, North Carolina.
- Develop a species list of plants present in each vegetative zone.
ECSU- Project Leader: Heather Allen, Research Assistants:Reginald Bazemore, Emma Sawyer, and Matt Woolard
Southern Shores Vegetation Committee - Jack Sheehan, Chairman
Town of Southern Shores - Carl Classen, Town Manager, Michael Hejduk
Timeline: June 2003 to March 2004
Background:
Southern Shores:
The Southern Shore Vegetation Committee (SSVC) 
identified
five distinct vegetative zones within the town boundaries of Southern Shores.
These ecologically valuable and environmentally sensitive zones, occurring
from east to west, are the ocean beach fore-dune zone, the sandy flats,
a high dune zone, the maritime forests and soundside marsh.
The trees, shrubs and grasses present in these five zones grow on areas owned by the Town, the civic associations and private individuals. As noted in the Maritime Forest-Vegetative Working Group Report (30 April 2002), approximately 760 of the Town's 2,800 residential lots remain unimproved (i.e. have not been developed)
Materials and Methods:
The GPS unit
used for collecting data on the lots of Southern Shores is the GeoExplorerer
3c receiver. This unit was chosen because it is pocket sized, lightweight,
and water resistant perfect for the type of mapping involved in the SSVS.
The GeoExplorer 3c's primary function is to collect geographic features,
like latitude and longitude coordinates. It obtains this data by catching
satellite signals as you walk around a desired area. The next step involves
downloading the collected data. The GeoExplorer 3c is connected to the
computer and downloaded 
intoPathfinder
Office 2.51, the software used to process and transfer the data collected
from GPS units. Pathfinder Office is also used to program data dictionaries
(Appendix III) into the GPS unit. Data dictionaries are useful because
attribute information can be incorporated into the spatial data being collected
while in the field. In other words data dictionary allows you to categorize
the geographic data. Once the data is transferred into the Pathfinder Office
Software, the data is differentially corrected (correcting the latitude
and longitude coordinates to an accuracy of two meters or less). Next,
the spatial data are transferred into ArcView 3.1 (a GIS software). Here
the geographic data or polygons of lot classifications are overlain onto
a base map of the lots in Southern Shores, provided by Mike Hejduk (Appendix
IV).
Results from 2001/2002 monitoring: Please see Powerpoint presentation outlining activites and products to date, presented by Liz Noble, Heather Allen and Reginald Bazemore to the Town of Southern Shores Major, Town Councilmen, Planner and Vegetation Adviosory Committee.
Acknowledgements:
Funding provided
by NOAA EEP Program and Elizabeth City State University.
