Moss Spiders and Eco Justice: Lee Nix’s NCERS Study
Kai Meyer | April 11, 2024
On Monday, April 1, Lee Nix stood up in Jensen lecture hall and presented her capstone project on the impact of moss in high-elevation forests with incredible gusto and a smile. Nix, a Warren Wilson College (WWC) senior, is a conservation biology major and works on the WWC Athletics Crew.
The research's official title is Environmental Factors that Promote Moss Abundance in Western Carolinas Spruce-Fir Forest: The Impact of Higher Humidity, Temperature and Canopy Openings.
However, Nix was not initially interested in studying moss — she had originally intended to study a spider called the spruce-fir moss spider, which is native to North Carolina (N.C.) and one county in Tennessee (Tenn.). A tiny being, the spruce-fir moss spider is incredibly rare. Due to this, research on it is constrained.
“So I decided the next best thing would be studying its habitat and getting information to protect where it lives, so that’s the moss,” Nix said.
Most of the articles Nix encountered at the beginning of her research were outdated, dismissing the importance of moss in the ecosystem. However, once Nix and her advisor Amy Boyd dug into some more recent research, they were validated to find that moss actually does play a vital role in the fight to mitigate climate change.
“Moss is a really good stabilizer, not only through a biochemical lens but also physically. It allows for more moisture, which helps protect biodiversity,” Nix said.
This is particularly important for the protection of native, high-elevation species. With the rise in global temperatures, lower elevational species are being driven up mountains to seek refuge. They are forced into competition with high-elevational species, a phenomenon referred to as primary succession.
The intersection between moss and climate mitigation became a motivator for Nix, fueling her passion for further research in the field. Although Nix’s research found strong correlations between tree canopy opening, moss growth and moss’ impact within high-elevation ecosystems, her findings were not definite. Nix hopes her findings will be a stepping stone for future research.
Upon graduation, Nix hopes to continue her work as an environmentalist by working for the National Parks Service in one of their biological research centers or in general environmental education.