Chapter 4 Habitats
4.3.10 Pocosins 4.3.10.1 Ecosystem Description
Pocosin habitats are those parts of eastern North Carolina characterized by flooded, acidic, anaerobic soils with limited decomposition and accumulating biomass. Peat deposits develop where the soil is saturated for long enough periods that organic matter cannot completely decompose. Once peat has developed, it holds water, raising water levels in the soil and making the site wetter. The shallow water tables and patterns of normal flooding result in anaerobic soil conditions that slow decomposition of biomass. Soils are acidic and nearly sterile, with available nutrients provided from periodic surface flooding of adjoining landscapes and from precipitation. The soils of streamhead pocosin habitats are flooded, acidic, and infertile. Peatland pocosins occur on nearly flat, poorly drained areas of the outer Coastal Plain and in large shallow depressions such as Carolina bays. Streamhead pocosin habitats are patchy and limited to ravines that are permanently flooded by acidic seepage and run-off from adjacent hills. Fire history, hydrology, and drainage influence the composition of the community type, with some unfragmented examples occupying many thousands of acres.
Natural community themes and subtypes are determined by variation in wetness, depth of peat, and fire dynamics (Schafale 2024) . The following subtypes are associated with pocosins.
• Bay forest • High pocosin (deciduous and evergreen subtypes) • Low pocosin (gallberry-fetterbush and titi subtypes) • Peatland canebrake
• Pocosin opening (cranberry, pitcher plant, and sedge-fern subtypes) • Pond pine woodlands (canebrake, northern, and typic subtypes)
Streamhead pocosin plant community compositions can range from dense shrub thickets to treeless canebrakes. The natural fire cycle results in open canopy Pond Pine forests. However, fire suppression leads to Pond Pine forests with a dense shrub understory. The understory is dominated by a dense evergreen shrub layer including several members of the laurel and holly families and is frequently tangled with Laurel-leaf Greenbrier. Herbs are nearly absent except in the edge (ecotone) with neighboring sandhill communities. These ecotones often support a high diversity of herb and shrub species including many rare ones. Low pocosins occur on the deepest peats, in the interior of large domed peatlands, and in the largest peat-filled Carolina bays. They are the wettest, most nutrient-poor sites and support only low shrubs and scattered stunted pond pine trees. Often beds of pitcher plants and sphagnum moss cover large areas and bog species such as cranberries occasionally occur.
4 - 190
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator