pond riras are consequently actually a portion of the adjacent lajidowner's 

 backyard, and several ponds have piers built out into them. Almost all of the 

 ponds, unless they are extrenely densely vegetated by aquatics, are used for 

 swimming, and if large enough, for boating. 



Many relatively abrupt changes in the natural ponds of the area are apparent. 

 Several of the ponds have been "regraded" during road construction to lessen 

 wall steepness and give an access area for residents, or otherwise disturbed 

 during construction of adjacent roads. The dividing ridges between small pools 

 occurring in clusters have in some cases been excavated to form a single 

 larger pond. In other instances ditches draining surrounding pocosin areas 

 have been channelled into the nearest doline pond. Clear Pond, the largest 

 of the natxiral ponds within the subdivision, is now connected by a canal to 

 Boiling Springs Lake, which has resulted in enlargement of the pond by raising 

 the depth of the water to a higher level. The pond is now used primarily for 

 recreational purposes, including picnicking, swimaing, and boating. 



In addition to the more direct physical alteration of the natural ponds, 

 it is increasingly apparent that more indirect, gradual changes- are taking 

 place as well in many of the ponds. The water in two of the ponds was noted 

 to have an uncharacteristic greenish color, v/hich often occurs in an area 

 receiving an unusually high nutrient input, such as might occur from seepage 

 from an adjacent septic field. Because of disturbance to the ponds during road 

 construction and similar activities, mowing of rim areas surrounding "popu- 

 lated" ponds, and fairly intense recreational usage, the vegetational donation 

 so characteristic of these doline ponds in their natural state (presumably 

 related to hydroperiod and natural plant succession) has been altered or hr.s 

 largely disappeared, with many ponds now surrounded almost exclusively by a 

 relatively dense cover of Sacciolepis striata , v/hich has apparently invaded 

 the rin areas in many cases from adjacent roadside ditches and other low sireas. 

 Other, more subtle long term changes in the composition of the herbaceous 

 vegetation of the pond rim areas might be predicted because of the probable 

 alteration of groundwater relations in the area due to several sources, includ- 

 ing the drainage of adjacent pocosin areas, impoundment of the primary natural 

 drainage system within the area (Allen Creek), and the increased groundwater 

 consumption via private wells that is accompanying the gradually increasing 

 resident population. 



The surrounding ve~etational communities within the area night also be 

 expected to gradually change over time, due primarily to the exclusion of fires 

 from the area, because the pine (Pinus sp.) dominated vegetational communities 

 which cover the tract are all dependent upon fire for their maintenance and per- 

 petuation. In addition, as the area continues to grow, increased construction 

 and drainage activity can be expected to produce further gradual, as well as 

 immediate, changes in the vegetation. 



With the exception of a few of the largest ponds occurring on the adjacent 

 Orton property, the natural ponds on the Orton tract lie in an upland, long- 

 leaf pine ( Pj nus palustris ) dominated area, much of v/hich v;as either timbered 

 during the past spring, or in recent years. The result is that most of the 

 ponds on the Orton tract adjoining the town of Boiling Springs Lakes have been 

 extensively disturbed, and a few hnve been largely destroyed. Those ponds 

 immediately adjacent to the subdivision are still surrounded by a fairly mature 

 stand of second growth longloaf pines, although -^ond rim diversity is low, 

 and a dense stand of Sacciolepis striata surrounding the . onds indicates a 

 high probability of past disturbance in the area. 



Ponds located to the north and northeast of the Boiling Springs Lakes 

 subdivision include Pretty rond-.--the largest of the doline ponds in the area 



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