11a. Prose Description of Site: 



The Chapel Swamp Natural Area is a 149-acre tract which 

 contains the narrow alluvial floodplain and adjacent upland 

 slopes of a small stream draining the southern margin of 

 Albemarle Sound. The natural area contains the best preserved 

 examples of upland slope and alluvial floodplain communities 

 remaining in Washington County. 



Chapel Swamp is a small, low-gradient stream which 

 drains a portion of the upland mineral soils which occur 

 as a relatively narrow band 2-3 miles wide along the south 

 side of Albemarle Sound. The stream is one of several lo- 

 cated along the northern border of the county between Mackeys 

 and the Tyrrell County line. The narrow alluvial floodplain 

 along the meandering channel is dominated by swamp forest 

 typical of alluvial brownwater rivers and streams of the 

 coastal plain. 



The plant community of the floodplain is Nyssa 

 aguatica/Saururus cernuus (water tupelo/lizard' s tail; 

 CT 1) . It is dominated by water tupelo ( Nyssa aquatica ) 

 in the canopy over a sparse, poorly-developed shrub layer 

 of Carolina water ash ( Fraxinus caroliniana ) and Virginia 

 willow (Itea virginica ) over a ground layer locally domi- 

 nated by dense patches of lizard's tail ( Saururus cernuus ) . 

 The water tupelo average about 60-70 feet in height and 

 have an average diameter at breast height (dbh) of about 

 28 inches. Scattered very large, old-growth trees up to 

 45 inches. dbh are present. Mixed with the gum are scattered 

 baldcypress (Taxodium distichum ) up to 90 feet tall and 43 

 inches dbh, cull trees which were not harvested during 

 earlier periods of timber removal. Scattered very large 

 cypress stumps indicate that the swamp forest community was 

 probably dominated by cypress prior to logging activities. 



The water tupelo swamp forest stand is characterized 

 by the distinct, swollen bases of the trees, an indication 

 that deep flooding of the swamp is a periodic occurrence. 

 Water lines on the trees indicate flooding depths of up to 

 two feet . 



The swamp soils are mapped as Dorovan mucky silt loam 

 overwash, an organic soil that has developed a shallow mineral 

 surface horizon (SCS 1981) . These silty loam soils apparently 

 account for the presence of water tupelo, a species more com- 

 monly associated with silty and clayey swamps of larger brown- 

 water river bottoms. The water tupelo swamp is the only well- 

 developed, mature stand known in Washington County. This species 

 is at or very near the eastern margin of its range in the Pamli- 



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