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k mile of the beach adjacent to the refuge has been 

 purchased by a Morehead City realtor — Joe C. Beam. 



Investigator: John Fussell (Report by Fussell and Jeannie 

 Wilson) 



Date: November 1980 



Other Knowledgeable Persons: Mr. Hubert Brohawn, Cedar Island 

 Wildlife Refuge. Cedar Island, N. C. ': 



Description of Area: Low where developed; high elsewhere. 



The primary value of this area is its geological "unique- 

 ness". It is by far the most prominent barrier island 

 system along an estuarine shoreline in North Carolina, 

 and on a small scale, has virtually all the features of 

 barrier islands that front the ocean. 



This barrier system is ca. 7 miles long and lies 

 WNW-ESE. See Map 3. The section of the island that lies 

 2-4 miles from the western tip has been humanly altered. 

 Here, there are a few beach cottages, the ferry terminal 

 at the end of N.C. 12, some ORV traffic, and grazing by 

 horses and cows. West and east of this section, these 

 islands are essentially undisturbed. On this visit, only 

 the area west of the ferry terminal was surveyed and the 

 brief description that follows pertains to that area. 



This area is an intriguing small scale edition of a 

 barrier island system, complete with beach, dunes, maritime 

 shrub thickets sheared toward the SSW by salt spray, and 

 the back-barrier marshes. There are three inlets, and 

 numerous overwash fans, blow-outs, and peat outcrops on 

 the beach. Thus, the system presents a graphic small- 

 scale edition of a larger oceanfront barrier island 

 system. 



The beach, unlike an ocean beach, does have vegetated 

 areas,, primarily Spartina alternif lora . However, most of 

 the beach is bare. The dune zone is ca. 200' wide, and 

 the dunes range up to 5-10'. The larger dunes are 

 dominated by Uniola paniculata in some areas, but by 

 Ammophila breviligulata at other sites. Lower areas 

 within the dune zone have a rich diversity of species 

 typical of seaside dunes. The shrub thicket zone is up 

 to 100' wide at some points; at other points it is absent. 

 Quercus virginiana is the dominant species; it averages 

 6 high and is typically salt sheared. Near the western 

 tip of the system, Myrica cerifera dominates. The 

 back-barrier marsh is nearly pure Juncus roemerianus , but 

 along the marsh-shrub thicket border, there is a rich 

 diversity of brackish/high marsh species. 



The westermost two miles of this section of beach is 

 within Cedar Island Wildlife Refuge. This appears to be 

 a significant roosting/feeding area for many species of 

 waterbirds, including brown pelicans. Two dead loggerhead 

 turtles were seen on the beach. This species occurs 



