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Mac Stone

In North Carolina's Black River, bald cypress trees grow in a portion of the river marked by swamps. Swamps are a type of wetland, a waterlogged ecosystem critical for people and wildlife.

Along the Cape Fear River, North Carolina • Seawater seeps into aquifers and freshwater wetlands, killing vegetation such as these bald cypresses near Eagles Island. Dredging encouraged the intrusion and killed the trees long ago. Cypress stands all over the Southeast have been decimated since the 19th century by logging and draining of wetlands.

Fireflies known as “snappy syncs” illuminate the bottomlands of South Carolina’s Congaree National Park in May each year, creating a pulsing display with their rapid-fire, coordinated flashes. David Shelley, biologist at the park, considers the creatures “charismatic micro-fauna” that serve as a reminder of the importance of insects. (From “A rare look at fireflies that blink in unison, in a forest without tourists,” June 2020.)

The Everglades wetlands were once dominated by large cypress trees, home to epiphytes and orchids, like ghost orchids. These were heavily logged but some precious patches remain, like Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where two ghost orchids have been identified, including one 'super ghost.'

Biologist Peter Houlihan sets up a light trap 90-feet in a cypress tree. Attracted to different wavelengths of light, hawk moths and other insects will fly to the sheet allowing Houlihan to understand the area's insect diversity.