About

Alexander Krings is a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University. His work seeks to contribute to conservation and sustainable natural resource management through both fundamental and applied research. His research spans several disciplines, including historical ecology, dendrochronology, floristics and taxonomy, and silviculture. Krings develops applied resources to facilitate plant identification at local and regional scales and is actively involved in extension activities. He serves as an editor for the journals Castanea and Novon, and as the taxon editor for the Apocynaceae for the Flora of North America. Krings has served on the NCDA & CS Plant Conservation Program Scientific Committee for about a decade and held a governor-appointed role on the Plant Conservation Program Board for two four-year terms. He teaches courses such as Local Flora, Rare Plants of North Carolina, and Plant Nomenclature, and is the Coordinator for the Certificate in Field Botany, developed in collaboration with the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. He welcomes students interested in graduate degrees in plant ecology and conservation, with a history of contributing to the knowledge of the flora of the Southeast through ecological studies and floristic inventories, preparing students for careers in environmental consulting, NGOs, state agencies, and natural heritage programs.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Geography
• Botany
• Zoology
• Genetics
• Archaeology
• Physical geography
• Geology
• Forestry
• Paleontology

Selected publications

• Two new species in the Matelea stenopetala complex (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae) from the Guiana Shield and Amazonian Brazil

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A new species and a new combination in Phaeostemma (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae, Gonolobinae)

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Scientific Note: the Role of Pre-stratification Dry Storage Time in Germination Success of an Imperiled, Southern Appalachian Endemic, Houstonia montana (Rubiaceae)

  Castanea · 2025-02-14

  article

  Houstonia montana Small (Rubiaceae) is a federally-listed herbaceous perennial known only from 16 populations across the rock outcrops and grassy balds of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Species recovery objectives include augmentation and/or (re)introduction into suitable habitat and the establishment of a long-term conservation collection. However, before any action involving germplasm storage or plant propagation can be pursued, the seed biology of the species must be more fully understood. This study aimed to assess the effect of pre-stratification dry storage time on germination success. Seeds were collected from two populations of H. montana in October 2023 and subsequently stored at dry, ambient conditions for three durations of time: two weeks, three months, and six months post collection. After dry storage, seeds were cold-stratified in moist filter paper at 3°C for 60 days and then transferred to moist filter paper in petri dishes for germination under controlled conditions in a growth chamber. Germination reached 88–100% across the dry storage treatments and populations, indicating high seed viability for seeds stored up to six months before cold stratification. Time-to-event analysis identified a significantly faster germination rate for seeds stored for two weeks post-harvest compared to seeds stored for three or six months but there were no significant differences in germination rate in the latter two treatments. Collectively, the results provide a basis for the timing and planning of projects requiring seed germination of Houstonia montana and point towards a two-week dry storage time before cold stratification for quick germination with high seedling yield.

  PublisherDOI

• Range-Wide Quantitative Habitat Characterization of Critically Imperiled Ludwigia ravenii (Onagraceae)

  Castanea · 2024-07-10

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Noteworthy Collections: Chevreulia acuminata (Gnaphalieae, Asteraceae) New to North Carolina

  Castanea · 2024-02-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• In Search of the “Piedmont Prairies”: Multivariate Analyses of Heliophilic Plant Communities in the Heart of the Piedmont of Eastern North America

  Castanea · 2024-07-10 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Remnants of the “Grande Savane?” Insights from Soil Organic Matter at Two Sites in the Deep River Triassic Basin of North Carolina

  Castanea · 2023 · 4 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Ecology
  • Geography
  • Physical geography

  Narrative accounts and floristics suggest a broader historical distribution of Piedmont upland savannas and woodlands with a prairie-affinity flora than today, although dates of emergence, spatiotemporal extent, and historical dynamics remain unclear. To help address the question whether remnant prairie-affinity patches in the state represent at least historical, if not ancient, grasslands, we analyzed stable carbon isotopes from soil organic matter from two well-known localities hosting prairie-affinity heliophytes, both within the boundaries of historically mapped “Grande Savane”. Soil cores for δ13Corg analysis and radiocarbon dating were collected from five sites, hosting different present-day plant communities and spanning three soil orders. Recovered δ13Corg values suggest historical grasslands, likely savanna-type with some fluctuations in cover, were present at both localities essentially continuously over the past 2000 years until the more recent canopy closure over the past century. These findings are consistent with historical narrative accounts, although significant additional sampling is needed to determine its spatiotemporal extent. While the general trend at our localities transitions from open to closed systems, pronounced fluctuations are apparent in all profiles, particularly between 1254–1468 CE. Precipitation does not appear predominantly responsible, but available climatic reconstructions are from an adjacent basin. The timing of the pronounced vegetation class fluctuations is intriguingly coincidental to the timing of Siouan occupancy and intertribal movements, suggesting a need for more vigorous interdisciplinary investigations.

  PublisherDOI

• Distinguishing Saplings of Pines of Piedmont Upland Grassland Systems

  Castanea · 2023-01-17

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The development and assessment of Piedmont upland grassland restoration efforts is hampered in part by continued challenges in identifying immature individuals of three associated pines, Pinus echinata, P. taeda, and P. virginiana, the penultimate of which is thought alien to the system. To help fill this gap, we studied three quantitative and 25 qualitative characters in 174, 2- to 5-year-old saplings in managed stands in Durham County (North Carolina) and 169 herbarium specimens of mature individuals from 94 Piedmont counties from Georgia to Virginia. Although mean short-shoot needle and fascicle sheath lengths differed significantly between lifestage classes of the three species (F8,335=185, p<0.0001 and F8,335=173.5, p<0.0001, respectively), there was substantial range overlap, likely contributing to diagnostic confusion in the field when existing keys are applied. For example, needle length ranges of all lifestage classes of all species overlapped with those of mature P. echinata and 2-year-old P. virginiana. In addition, at the apex of the previous season's growth, 2-year-old saplings of P. echinata and P. virginiana exhibited needles either predominantly or in higher percentages of threes, than the contrasting described preponderance of pairs for mature individuals. Of the 25 qualitative characters evaluated, we found (1) absence of decurrency glaucescence distinguishes 2- to 5-year-old saplings of P. taeda from P. echinata and P. virginiana, and (2) absence of stomatal plugs distinguishes P. virginiana from the others. A diagnostic key to saplings is provided.

  PublisherDOI

• Scientific Note: Neotypification of Ptelea mollis M.A. Curtis (Rutaceae)

  Castanea · 2023-01-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Autonomie und Regionalentwicklung am Beispiel des Regionalen Entwicklungskonzeptes „Ostbelgien leben 2025“

  Europäisches Journal für Minderheitenfragen · 2023-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Joseph C. Neal

  7 shared

• Thomas G. Ranney

  North Carolina State University

  6 shared

• Qiu‐Yun Xiang

  North Carolina State University

  6 shared

• Angela R. Post

  North Carolina State University

  4 shared

• Ronald J. Gehl

  Pioneer Hi-Bred

  4 shared

• Alexandria D. Szakacs

  North Carolina State University

  4 shared

• Dilip R. Panthee

  North Carolina State University

  4 shared

• Gilberto Morillo

  University of the Andes

  4 shared

Labs

• Plant and Microbial BiologyPI

Awards & honors

• Received Richard and Minnie Windler Award for best paper in…