The thinned hardwood stands may, over time, slowly 

 develop into mature mixed oak communities similar to the 

 present old-growth stands. There is an abundant seed 

 source present and gradual replacement of more "weedy" 

 tree species by the climax forest species can occur on 

 the site, if no further cutting occurs. The thinned 

 stands occupy about 4180 acres and serve as an important 

 hardwood buffer adjoining the surrounding pine plantation. 



Contrasting with the hardwood-dominated forest com- 

 munity described above is a small area (100 acres) of 

 brackish marsh located along Scranton Creek. This marsh 

 can be divided into three distinct zones which are cor- 

 related with flooding frequency and duration. The lower 

 marsh zone along the stream channel is dominated by an 

 almost pure zone of black needlerush ( Juncus roemarianus ) . 

 The higher marsh zone is dominated by dense stands of 

 sawgrass ( Cladium jamaicense ) . Salt grass ( Distichlis 

 spicata ) forms small, concentric zones within the saw- 

 grass marsh. This zonation pattern seems to be typical 

 of most brackish creeks in western and southern Hyde County. 

 Because much more extensive examples of these brackish 

 marsh communities occur elsewhere in the county, the 

 natural area marsh is not considered to be a highly 

 significant example of this habitat type. 



Ecology of HydricHardwood or "Oak" Flats 



The term "oak flats" has been used to describe this 

 characteristic bottomland hardwood forest type in the 

 coastal plain. Pinchot and Ashe (1897) in a discussion 

 of the various vegetation types in the North Carolina 

 coastal plain listed four general bottomland or wetland 

 forest types: 1) pond pine pocosin, 2) Atlantic white 

 cedar swamps, 3) gum and cypress swamps, and 4) oak flats. 



In their definition of oak flats Pinchot and Ashe 

 ( op . cit . ) described them as forests "... in which numerous 

 broad-leaf trees, chiefly oaks, constitute the greater 

 portion of the growth ..." They further state that oak 

 flats occur along the borders of cypress and gum swamps 

 on damp or moist usually deep loams , and are often inun- 

 dated during the spring. They mention a diversity of 

 bottomland oaks along with loblolly pine as characteristic 

 canopy components. They include bottomland associations of 

 broad-leaf trees which occur on floodplain terraces and 

 natural levees along brownwater streams and rivers in the 

 oak flats category. 



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