Chapter 4 Habitats
High pocosins occur in somewhat less deep peats. The shrubs, up to six or eight feet tall and impenetrably dense, are generally laced together with greenbriers and punctuated with sparse stunted Pond Pines. Pond Pine woodlands occur on shallow organic deposits on the edge of peatlands and in shallow swales and bays, where tree roots can grow through the thin organic layer to reach mineral soil below. Pond Pines are tall and often fairly dense, and the shrub layer is tall and usually very thick. In some Pond Pine woodlands the dense shrub layer is replaced by canebrakes. Bay forests may occur in similar sites, but they are usually more associated with creeks draining out of peatland pocosins. They have a canopy dominated by evergreen hardwood Loblolly Bay, Redbay, and/or Sweetbay. 4.3.10.2 Location of Habitat Extensive examples of Pond Pine woodlands exist in the Green Swamp, at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Holly Shelter Game Land, and in Dare County at the Dare Bombing Range. Atlantic White Cedar-dominated communities still exist at Alligator River and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, and in the Great Dismal Swamp. There is a significant-sized stand of Atlantic White Cedar in the Buckridge Preserve (Tyrrell County), the only inland site that is part of the NC Coastal Reserve. Examples of fire-managed streamhead pocosin can be found on Sandhills Game Land, Fort Bragg, Croatan National Forest, and Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. The Croatan National Forest, Dare Bombing Range, Camp Lejeune, and Holly Shelter Game Land do conduct some pocosin burns, but all other fire introduced into pocosin habitats tends to be on small acreages (less than 100 acres). 4.3.10.3 Problems Affecting Habitats Peatland pocosin is a large, dominant habitat in the eastern part of the state and once occupied nearly 3 million acres from Virginia to Florida, with about 70% occurring in North Carolina. Only about 750,000 acres remain, with most of the area lost used for agriculture, forestry, and peat mining. Land Use. Logging, particularly of Atlantic White Cedar and Pond Pine stands, altered flood regime through ditching, constructing impoundments to store water, fire suppression, and conversion to agriculture or silviculture that fragment communities can significantly impact pocosin ecosystems. The hydrologic changes resulting from ditches and canals developed to drain peatland pocosins for agriculture and forestry reduce the water holding capacity of the ecosystem and can alter the chemistry of nearby estuaries. The ditches and canals result in the rapid drainage of rainwater into estuaries that become loaded with sediment and nutrients. The deluge of freshwater into estuaries causes salinity values to plummet while the nutrients
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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