12 



6) the inlet beach. This is the strip of slightly elevated 

 land that lies between the intertidal section of Bird Shoal and 

 the inlet. It is submerged only by extreme tides. In the last 

 3 or 4 years, this strip of land has begun to "build up" and 

 some small sea oats ( Uniola paniculata ) dunes have developed. 



7) Spartina alternif lora marshes. Most Spartina alternif lora 

 is grazed intensively by the horses. The only ungrazed areas 



are the deeper areas of Town Marsh and the marshes of Carrot Island. 



8) High marsh-low meadow areas are common along the lower 

 slopes of the spoil sites. Species composition changes with 

 elevation. Juncus roemerianus , Spartina patens , and Fimbristylis 

 spadicea adjacent to the Spartina alternif lora , changes to 

 Andropogon virginicus and other species further up the slopes. 



9) maritime shrub thicket. This is most common on dredge 

 spoil along the north side of Carrot Island. However, there 

 is also shrub thicket on the natural ridge along the south 

 side of Carrot Island. Dominant shrub thicket species are 



red cedar ( Juniperus virginiana ) , live oak ( Quercus virginiana ) , 

 and loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda ) . The "natural" shrub thicket 

 appears to have a greater species diversity than the spoil 

 shrub thicket and at least one species that doesn't occur in 

 the spoil shrub thicket-palmetto ( Sabal minor ) . 



10) the sparsely vegetated domes of the spoil sites. 

 The most common plants here are little bluestem ( Andropogon 

 scoparius ) and camphorweed ( Heterotheca subaxillar is ) . 



11) non-tidal pools. Most of these may dry up occasionally 

 and the salinity probably varies greatly. Some have a growth 



of widgeon grass ( Ruppia maritima ) , These pools are mostly 

 restricted to the spoil areas, but there is a natural one on 

 Horse Island. 



Physical Features: 



The primary physical features of Bird Shoal-Carrot Island- 

 Horse Island complex are: 



1) the long strip of spoil material (up to 10-15 feet in 

 elevation) that stretches from North River along Taylor Creek 

 and the south toward Beaufort Inlet. This strip is broken 

 only at two points - the tidal creek near the west end of 

 Carrot Island and the tidal creek through Town Marsh. 



2) the vast intertidal flat that makes up much of the 

 central and southern part of the complex. 



3) the narrow "beach" that separates the intertidal flat 

 from Beaufort Inlet. 



4) the remnant of Town Marsh ( Spartina alternif lora ) at 

 the northwest end of the complex and the fairly large expanse 

 of Spartina alterniflora marsh at Carrot Island. 



5) the low ridge vegetated with shrub thicket hammocks 

 along the south side of Carrot Island. This ridge is on old 

 (1800's) charts. Perhaps it is a relict beach ridge. The 

 ridge is sand on the surface. It would be interesting to 

 know if the sand continues down, or if it is only along the 

 immediate surface with mud or marsh peat just below it. 



