although we saw only least bitterns on our boat trip. 



Unlike the brackish marsh community which is easily acces- 

 sible by boat, the interior forested wetlands of the island are 

 much more difficult to survey and inventory. Comprising about 

 90% of the island's acreage, these forested wetlands are acces- 

 sible from only one location along a road and canal leading from 

 the Alligator River about h mile into the island interior (see 

 map) . Notes taken along this canal were compared with observ- 

 ations made during our aerial reconnaissance of the entire island. 

 Extrapolations were made using a combination of our ground and 

 aerial observations. We emphasize that more detailed ground 

 field work is needed to more accurately describe and delineate 

 the various plant communities present on the island. The fol- 

 lowing descriptions are general in nature and point to the need 

 for more field work. 



The forested wetlands of the island can be divided into 

 two major types: 1) a swamp forest dominated by various com- 

 binations of baldcypress ( Taxodium distichum , red maple ( Acer 

 rub rum ) , loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda ) , swamp blackgum ( Nyssa 

 sylvatica var. biflora ) , and Atlantic white cedar ( Chamaecyparis 

 thy o ides ) ; and 2) an open pond pine ( Pinus serotina ) forest over 

 a dense understory of bay trees and evergreen shrubs. 



The swamp forest is located primarily along the northern 

 portion of the island adjacent to the embayed section of the 

 Alligator River, and in the southwestern corner near the head 

 of Jack's Creek (see map). Most of the areas surveyed along 

 the river contain young to medium growth closed stands of lob- 

 lolly pine , red maple , and sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua ) . 

 Canopy heights are generally 40-60 feet. Most of the cypress 

 have been removed during past timber operations. Swamp black- 

 gum is sometimes present in almost pure stands. Occasional 

 stands of baldcypress are also present but these are relatively 

 minor in extent and are composed of trees in young age classes. 

 Most cypress stands seen were 40-50 feet in height and 12-14 

 inches dbh. The swamp forest stands appear to be limited 

 mainly to a fairly narrow band (to 2500 feet) adjacent to the 

 river channel. We saw no stands in the northern section which 

 were significant enough to be granted community type designations 

 or mentioned in the significance summary of this report. 



The swamp forest stands in the southwestern corner of the 

 island are centered around the headwaters of Jack's Creek. This 

 area was surveyed by air only. Several stands of baldcypress 

 were observed along with scattered small groups of Atlantic 

 white cedar. One area south of Jack's Creek has a fairly high 

 density of white cedar. Swamp blackgum is fairly common with 

 the cypress and white cedar in this section. The height of 

 the vegetation and the underlying shrub composition could not 

 be determined during our aerial observations. However, some 



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