IIB. Prose description of site significance: 



1. UNIQUE WETLAND COMMUNITY . The most significant feature of 

 this extensive tract of wetland is the high diversity fresh 

 marsh community, dominated by Spartina pectinata and 

 Zizaniopsis miliacea (Southern wild rice) , a type not known 

 to be represented elsewhere in public ownership, and perhaps 

 unique in the state. This association is represented primarily 

 by marshes at the mouths of Sarem and Bennett's Creeks and to 

 a lesser extent at Catherine Creek. Small patches of tall 

 Zizaniopsis occur at intervals along most of the streams 

 within the natural area. 



The hydrologic situation which supports these communities 

 is unique in the state in that it is the headwaters of an 

 embayed area which, although at sea level, is maintained in 

 fresh water because of the lack of a direct outlet to the 

 sea. Similar areas farther east and to the south are occupied 

 by marsh species adapted to brackish water. 



2. HIGH QUALITY WILDLIFE HABITAT . This is the most important 

 site in the county for wetland mammals. The sheer size of the 

 wetland area (around 11,000 acres) plus mesic islands and 



an equally large area of surrounding wetland in private 

 ownership contributes to its value for wildlife species. If 

 native mammals, such as black bear, river otter, beaver, mink, 

 muskrat and bobcat are to remain a permanent part of the 

 natural heritage of the county, it will be essential to 

 leave as much of this large wetland as possible in an 

 undisturbed condition. 



SCIENTIFIC VALUE AS A STUDY SITE FOR FOREST SUCCESSION . In 

 contrast to most other areas of the Coastal Plain, the 

 hydrology of this site, which lies nearly at sea level, has 

 been essentially undisturbed by ditching and draining. 

 Disturbance history is largely limited to logging, and dates 

 primarily only to the late 19th century. Consequently, 

 natural processes of succession should return the vegetation 

 to the original forest types of the area. These would include 

 those of the mesic islands, with a gradient from upland types 

 in the centers, to mesic and hydric types around the moist 

 peripheries; slope community types transitional to the 

 adjacent uplands; the primary cypress-gum forest of most of 

 the swamp; the special communities along the edges of the 

 interior streams and the Chowan River, and the marsh 

 communities.- 



I 



Little is known of the processes or end results of forest 

 succession in wetland areas. No long-term studies have been 

 carried out, and suitable sites protected from logging are 

 few. Chowan Swamp is a valuable site for long-term study of 

 wetland forest succession. 



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