IIA. Prose Description of Site: 



The mesic islands are a series of sand ridges in the Dismal 

 Swamp, the most conspicuous of which occur in small groups along 

 an east-west axis in Gates and Pasquotank Counties. They rise 

 several feet above the general peat landscape and support a 

 mesophytic plant community that is of very limited extent in the 

 Dismal. The flora is similar in composition to the mesic islands 

 in Chowan Swamp which have, however, a different geologic origin. 

 The elevated portions of the islands are dominated by a mature 

 (75-100 yr) beech forest. 



The modern history of the Dismal Swamp has been one of 

 artificially lowered water tables, leading to peat removal by 

 wildfire, and subsequent replacement of the native white cedar by 

 less specialized mesophytes — red maple in particular. Much of the 

 black gum ( Nyssa sylvatica ) and loblolly pine in the southern part 

 of the refuge also represents disturbance vegetation. The proper 

 habitat of these species in the original forest is discussed in 

 the section of the Introduction on presettlement forests of Gates 

 County. 



There is no reason to assume that this portion of the swamp 

 has escaped the type conversion which has occurred over other 

 areas of deep peat. Therefore, the original forest vegetation 

 surrounding the mesic islands was probably Atlantic white cedar 

 ( Chamaecyparis thyoides ) . There was probably a higher water table 

 and a more constant moisture regime before european settlement. 



The role of fire in regulating beech communities on the 

 Coastal Plain may be the prevention of their spread onto drier 

 uplands (Ware 1978) and, therefore, confinement to moist slopes 

 and other fire-protected sites. It is unlikely that fire played 

 a major role in the vegetation of these isolated islands. While 

 the original vegetation of the dry top of the Suffolk Scarp, and 

 of the drier sandy uplands in other parts of Gates County to the 

 west, was a longleaf pine pyroclimax, the surrounding swamp 

 probably protected the mesic islands from all but the infrequent 

 surface peat burns characteristic of white cedar habitat. This 

 phenomenon may have been enhanced by the fire barrier created by 

 a wet depression along the toe of the scarp to the west. 



It is presumed that the Indians living along the scarp 

 probably fired the woods, for hunting purposes and for ease of 

 travel, as often as litter accumulation would support a fire — 

 perhaps every 2 or 3 years. Within the central swamp, a likely 

 fire frequency might be only 3 or 4 per century. Judging from 

 the age of existing white cedar stands, fires hot enough to kill 

 established stands of cedar occurred only once or twice per 

 century. Large stumps preserved in older levels of peat suggest 

 that the frequency may have been even less in the past. 



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