Dane Kuppinger

Ph.D. student working with Peter White
Ecology Program

Phone: 919-962-6934

Fax: 919-962-6930

Email: kupp@email.unc.edu

Office: 417 Coker Hall

Mailing Address:
Curriculum in Ecology CB# 3275, Miller Hall
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3275

Dane Kuppinger, aka "Dale", aka "Lizard Crusher: A shadowy, elusive figure who operates on the fringe of society.

He is considered dangerous as he is known to lace chili with TVP. This is the only known photo of him.

Research

Biotic and abiotic factors that affect the invasion success of Paulownia tomentosa following wildfires in pine and oak-pine forests of the Southern Appalachian mountains

While fire has become a valuable management tool in recent years, understanding and minimizing the detrimental effects of prescribed fire is becoming critical as its use increases. Of these detrimental effects, invasion by exotic species, is particularly alarming as it presents the potential to undermine the beneficial effects of prescribed fires. Regardless, natural, intentional, and accidental fires are once again becoming part of the landscape. It is therefore important to determine the landscape, watershed and stand variables that favor the spread of exotic species into natural areas following fire. Using data from five sampling locations in the Southern Appalachians, we found that the abundance of Paulownia tomentosa following fire in mountain forest habitats is affected by a number of biotic and abiotic factors namely live canopy, shrub, and herbaceous cover, amount of bare soil, and depth of humus and litter. Further, these variables can be used to predict with a high degree of accuracy whether Paulownia will invade following fire.

Talk and poster presentations

Posters

ASB 2004 Poster

Joint Fire Science Program conference 2004 Poster

Talks

ASB 2005 Presentation

Western North Carolina Alliance Fire Conference Presentation