4.4 Terrestrial Communities
• Dune grass communities occur on the line of foredunes just behind the active beach and on unstable sand dunes farther back on barrier islands. Te loose, shifting sand with its low water holding capacity and low nutrient reserves makes these environ- ments habitable by only a handful of specialized plant species. Sea oats grass is the dominant plant in most examples, with American beach grass dominating examples in the northern part of the state. Artifcial dune stabilization by planting of grasses or plac- ing snow fences modifes the natural dune structure and dynamics. Te higher, more continuous artifcial dunes are more susceptible to erosion on the front because there are no passages through which seawater can wash. • Maritime dry grassland communities occur on more stable sands in the interior of barrier islands. Tey may be on low, stable, old dunes, but are most typically found on sandy fats on low islands that lack continuous foredunes. Seawater overwashes the low islands during severe storms and kills any invading woody vegetation. Te character- istic dominant grass in these communities is saltmeadow cordgrass, though Seaside Little Bluestem occurs in a few examples, and overall plant diversity is fairly low. • Maritime wet grasslands may occur on low sand fats or in dune swales at the water table level and are resilient to salt spray and overwash. Some examples may even be fooded for substantial periods. Saltmeadow cordgrass is generally dominant but a great diversity of other species is present. • Te upper beach type is not technically a grassland, but is closely related to the other community types. It occurs above the mean high tide line behind the intertidal beach. Te environment is very harsh for plants, with almost constant salt spray and with periodic fooding and reworking of sand during storms. A handful of mostly annual, salt-tolerant herbs occur as sparse patches and scattered individuals on the sand. Small mounds of sand may develop around the few perennial plants, such as sea oats and marsh elder, forming the beginnings of dunes.
Te 2005 WAP describes the mid-atlantic Coastal Plain beach/dune community as a prior- ity habitat (see Chapter 5) ( NCWRC 2005 ).
4.4.15.2 Location of Habitat Maritime grasslands are located in the Coastal Plain ecoregion on barrier islands and Atlantic Ocean shore areas.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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