effect on surface vegetation. Typical swamp forest of Nyssa 

 sylvatica bif lora with emergent Taxodium dlstichum . 



PLANT COMMUNITIES 



The vegetation of Chowan Swamp can be seen to be a complex 

 mosaic of community types (Fig. 16), resulting from environmental 

 gradients, disturbance by logging and possibly by rising sea level. 

 Since most of these areas are only serai stages after disturbance, 

 with different combinations of the same species, natural 

 characteristics summaries are limited to four major community types: 



CT-A Beech-mixed mesophytic oaks /mixed ericads on mesic islands. 



CT-B Nyssa sylvatica bif lora / Acer rubrum / Woodwardia virginica , the 

 dominant community type of the swamp. 



CT-C Mixed hydrophytic grasses and shrubs: the freshwater marsh 

 community. 



CT-D Taxodium distichum / Nyssa aquatica / mixed wetland herbs. As a 

 narrow strip along the Chowan River. 



Of the community types listed above, all are believed to be 

 representative of the original vegetation of the respective sites 

 with the exception of CT-B. This type may have originally had an 

 open or sparse canopy of Taxodium dlstichum emergent above the 

 closed Nyssa layer. 



The following field notes were made summer of 1980 by 

 Leo Snead, with additions by Cecil Frost during the present study: 



CATHERINE CREEK, TROTMAN CREEK 



At the mouth of Trotman Creek the canopy is Nyssa sylvatica 

 bif lora , N. aquatica , Fraxinus caroliniana and Taxodium dlstichum . 

 Nyssa sylvatica bif lora and N. aquatica are the major species. 

 Taxodium dlstichum tends to form a very sparse fringe along streams. 

 Fraxinus caroliniana is scattered throughout. The shrubs are Alnus 

 serrulata, Lyonia ligustrlna , Cyrllla racemlf lora and Myrica 

 cerlfera . Rosa palustris is an occasional species. 



Farther down Catherine Creek (the first 180° turn past 

 Trotman Creek) there are some Acer rubrum and Pinus taeda included 

 in the canopy. The frequency of these two species seems to Increase 

 downstream. At bends the canopy is mostly Taxodium dlstichum . 



The fifth 180° turn past Trotman Creek is a shrub-marsh 

 area with a scattered, open canopy of Acer rubrum (very young). 

 There is little marsh — this area is very similar to the shrub 

 zone on the south side of Sarem Creek. Just before reaching this 

 point, there is a cluster of Fraxinus on the west side of of the 



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