pine flatwoods community — lon^^leaf pine/scrub live oak ( Quercus geminata )/ 

 v;iregrass, longleaf pine/sand myrtle ( Leioyhyllun bu>n.f oil um ) /wire grass— 

 creeping blueberry ( Vacciniun crassifolium ) , etc. — in the flatter, 

 inter-ridge areas typified by a spodic quartzipsamment to aerie haplaquod 

 soil type. The pine flatwoods community bordered and graded into the 

 pocosin type vegetation and accorapanying typic haplaquod soils at the 

 bay margins. 



Physical features: 



General description: Big Cypress Bay constitutes what appeajrs to be 

 ■ en irregularly shaped Carolina bay, located in an area of well 

 developed (line) sinks, bordered by sandy ridges trending NW-SE 

 in direction of alignment. 



Topography — A NV/-SE trending Carolina bay, Big Cypress Bay contains 

 a series of irregularly shaped, moderately steep-walled depressions 

 which are believed to be doline ponds resulting from subsurface 

 solution of underlying limestone deposits, followed by a subsequent 

 slumping of the surface area above the solution cavity. The Big 

 Cypress Bay basin is surrounded by a series of sandy ridges extending 

 in a general ir..'-SE direction; relief from the pond basin area to 

 adjacent ridgecrests ranges to approximately 10m. 



Geology — The surficial sediments are marine-deposited sands and clays 

 of the Pamlico Terrace of Pleistocene age, overlying the Castle 

 Ilayne Limestone of Eocene age» 



Soils — (1) Lakeland series: a thermic, coated Typic Quartzipsamnent; 

 occupies the coarsest sandy upland ridges bordering Big 

 Cypress Bay; longleaf pine/turkey oak/wiregrass community 

 type. 



(2) Kureb series: a thermic, uncoated Spodic Quaj?tzipsaunment ; 

 occupies majority of the medium to fine-textured sandy 

 upland areas surrounding Big Cypress Bay; pine flatwoods 

 community. 



(3) Leon series: a sandy, siliceous, thermic Aerie Haplaquod; 

 occupies bay — upland ridge interface; pine/mixed evergreen 

 and deciduous shrubs, or nixed evergreen shrubs community 

 types. 



(^) Kurville series: a sandy, siliceous, thermic Tj-pxc Haplaquod; 

 occupies bay interior and pond areas; pine/nixed evergreen 

 -' . and deciduous shrubs//laurel leaf sav/brier, mixed evergreen 



and deciduous shrubs, and pond cypress/mixed forbs and 

 graminoids community types. 



Eare plants and animals: 



Litsea aestivalis . Pondspice. Endangered peripheral. Occurs in bay 

 rim area adjacent to small ephemeral pond. 



Alligator mississi-opiensis . American alligator. Endangered. Report- 

 edly breeds at numerous localities within the Big Cypress Bay pond 

 complex, 



Anhinga anhin:;a . V/ater turkey. Threatened. Sighted regularly at 



both r.".7 and SE pond arer^s. ?.eported to breed in the more isolated 

 interior bay areas. 



44 



