Chapter 4 Habitats
4.4.16 Maritime Forests 4.4.16.1 Ecosystem Description
Classification of the Natural Communities of North Carolina, Fourth Approximation (Schafale 2024) has updated this natural community to Maritime Upland Forests Theme. These communities encompass dry to mesic forest and shrubland communities on sandy soils within a few miles of the coast or on barrier islands. They are dominated by plant species that are relatively tolerant of salt and are rarely found inland. Communities that occur on barrier islands and coastal spits are impacted by salt spray, an important ecological influence on plant composition and structure. These communities are subject to extreme natural disturbance by wind, heavy salt spray, or saltwater intrusion during storms, and recovery may take several years (Schafale 2024) .
Subtypes in this natural community include:
• Calcareous Coastal Fringe Forest (Northern Subtype, Southern Subtype) • Coastal Fringe Evergreen Forest (Typic Subtype, Sand Spit Woodland Subtype) • Coastal Fringe Shell Woodland • Maritime Deciduous Forest • Maritime Evergreen Forest (Mid-Atlantic Subtype, South-Atlantic Subtype) • Maritime Shrub (Stunted Tree Subtype, Wax-Myrtle Subtype, Bayberry Subtype) • Marsh Hammock Within the theme, a barrier island setting easily distinguishes Maritime Shrub, Maritime Evergreen Forest, and Maritime Deciduous Forest from other communities, while Coastal Fringe Evergreen Forest and Calcareous Coastal Fringe Forest are distinguished by mainland locations inland of the sounds or marshes. Marsh Hammocks are distinguished by location on small islands embedded in marshes. A few examples of Maritime Shrub or Maritime Evergreen Forest may occur on backbarrier islands in locations where spray of salt or brackish water in the sounds produces similar conditions. See Classification of the Natural Communities of North Carolina, Fourth Approximation for complete descriptions and lists of plants associated with each subtype (Schafale 2024) . 4.4.16.2 Location of Habitat Maritime Upland Forests are found throughout the barrier islands and coastal inlands. Barrier island examples can be found at Buxton Woods, Theodore Roosevelt State Natural Area on Bogue Banks, Brown’s Island, Bald Head Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Shackleford and Core Banks, Brown’s Island, Bear Island in Onslow County, Fort Macon State Park, Bogue Banks, and Fort Fisher. Only one good example of Maritime Deciduous Forest remains at Nags Head Woods in Dare County; an additional example occurs in nearby Kitty Hawk Woods. Maritime Swamp Forest examples can be found in in Buxton Woods and Nags Head Woods. Examples of Calcareous
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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